The Effectiveness of an Education Intervention based on Self-Care Model on Depressive Symptoms among adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Introduction: Over the past years, evidence has shown a high prevalence of depression among Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) patients.  This interventional study was performed to decrease depressive symptoms using education based on the self-care model in  Kiambu County, Kenya.

Methodology: The study was conducted from January to August 2021 at diabetic clinics of Thika Level 5 Hospital  (TL5H) and Kiambu Level 5 Hospital (KL5H). The study employed a pre-test post-test non-equivalent quasi-experimental study design.  There were 96 adolescents with T1DM obtained by stratified random sampling, and assigned into experimental (48 respondents) and  control group (48 respondents). Depressive symptoms were evaluated in the first and seventh months using the Center for Epidemiology  Studies Short Depression (CES-D) scale. Paired sample T-test and Independent sample T-test were used to analyze data.

Results: The  results of the Independent sample T-test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean score difference of  depressive symptoms at postintervention (t = -2.968, df = 94, p = 0.004), but no statistically significant difference in the mean score  difference of depressive symptoms at baseline (t = -1.100, df = 86, p =0.274). The result of the paired sample T-test revealed that there was  a statistically significant difference in the mean score difference of depressive symptoms in the intervention group (t = -4.374, df =  47, p = <0.001), but no statistically significant difference in the mean score difference of depressive symptoms in the control group (t=  -1.304, df = 47, p =0.199).

Conclusions: Education intervention based on the self-care model is an effective program that can improve  depressive symptoms. In addition, the education intervention based on the self-care model needs to be implemented continuously to  prevent diabetes-related complications and improve depressive symptoms among diabetic patients.