The Role of Peer Support Education Model in Management of Glucose and Lipid Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Chinese Adults

AIMS: To investigate the effect of peer support education model on the levels of glucose and lipids in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in China. METHODS: 120 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (T2DM) were assigned to two groups randomly from December 2016 to October 2017. Group 1 was trained on basic diabetic medical knowledge by a professional medical staff. After 8 weeks of studying, these specially trained patients then trained the patients of Group 2. RESULTS: It was found that after 3 months of intervention, the levels of fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, glycosylated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased for the two groups (p < 0.05). However, with the prolongation of time, there were no significant changes in the two groups in the above indices (p > 0.05) after 6 months, and the result was the same after strafing sex, age, and education level. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in decreasing glucose and lipid level between the two groups' participants (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: It was found that both the peer support education model and medical staff education model have a better short-term effect on blood glucose and lipid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes. As there is no difference of effect between the two methods of training, the peer support education model can be widely used in diabetes education.