Self-Care Practice and Associated Factors Among Individuals with Diabetes Mellitus in Northeast Ethiopia

PURPOSE: Self-care practices in diabetes patients are crucial to keep the illness under managed and prevent complications. Despite this, relatively little information is available regarding the level of self-care practice and associated factors among individuals with diabetes mellitus in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess self-care practice and its associated factors among individuals with diabetes mellitus in Deber Berhan referral hospital, Northeast Ethiopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 405 diabetes mellitus patients from May 1 to June 30, 2020. The data were collected using a pre-tested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi-data manager version 4.4.1.0 and finally exported into SPSS-24 software for analysis. To identify the predictor of self-care practice, binary logistic regression analysis was done. The result of the analysis was presented in a crude and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals. All tests were two-sided, and P ˂ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: About 181 (44.7%) of participants had good self-care practice. On a multivariate logistic regression analysis, educational status of the participants (with no formal education (AOR=0.12, 95% CI: 0.03–0.42), can read and write (AOR=0.23, 95% CI: 0.07–0.75), and secondary school (AOR=0.28, 95% CI: 0.09–0.88)), type 1 DM (AOR=0.27, 95% CI: 0.09–0.79), family history of DM (AOR=3.71, 95% CI: 1.37–10.07), and treatment satisfaction (AOR=4.41, 95% CI: 1.52–8.59) were significantly associated with self-care practice. CONCLUSION: More than half of the respondents had poor self-care practices. Educational status, types of DM, family history of DM, and treatment satisfaction were the predictors of self-care practices among individuals with DM.