The effect of empowerment program on hemoglobin A1C in type 2 diabetes patients

Background and Objective: In new patient-training methods the issue of patient empowerment has been presented which emphasizes the active role of patient in education. HbA1C is an important indicator that can help patient to control blood sugar successfully. This study was done to determine the effect of the empowerment program on glycosylated hemoglobin level in patients with type 2 diabetes. Materials and Method: This clinical trial study was performed on 134 patients with type 2 diabetes. They were assigned randomly into two groups of 67 in intervention and control. The questionnaires were the demographic information and the hemoglobin A1C blood tests respectively. Empowerment program were conducted according to regulatory protocols in six sessions of 90 minutes in each group. Hemoglobin A1C was measured before and three months after the intervention. For analysis of data, SPSS 17, independent, paired t test, X2, ANOVA and correlation Pearson tests were used. Results: There was no significant difference in relation to hemoglobin A1C between the intervention and control group before the intervention. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in relation to hemoglobin A1C between intervention group (8/33±1/52) and control (10/06±1/57) after the intervention (P<0.001). The mean of hemoglobin A1C in intervention group after the empowerment program were diminished. Conclusion: The results showed that implementation of the empowerment program increased patients’ efficiency to control blood sugar level and positively affected the reduction of HbA1C of patient undergone type 2 diabetes.