The Effectiveness of Health Education in Improving Knowledge about Hypoglycemia and Insulin Pen Use among Outpatients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at a Primary Care Hospital in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who have limited knowledge about hypoglycemia and insulin pen use are likely to have hypoglycemia and other complications. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of health education on knowledge about hypoglycemia and insulin pen use among outpatients with T2DM at a primary care hospital in Vietnam. METHODS: A pretest–posttest study was conducted among 80 patients with T2DM at District 11 Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. At baseline, patients were interviewed through a predefined, structural questionnaire to assess their knowledge about hypoglycemia and insulin pen use. After that, patients underwent an individual health education session about hypoglycemia and insulin pen. One month and two months after this intervention, knowledge about hypoglycemia and insulin pen use were recorded again. RESULTS: The majority were males (65.0%) and the mean age was 59.6 (standard deviation 8.1, range 35-75) years. Very few patients had good knowledge and proper insulin pen use, with percentages ranging from 13.8% to 60%. There was a significant improvement of knowledge and practice after the intervention. Such improvement remained high one month and two months after the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The health education intervention is effective in improving knowledge and practice in this population. There is a pressing need for such intervention at primary care hospitals to optimize treatment for patients with T2DM, possibly focusing on those who had characteristics to have the best effectiveness found in this study.