Effects of Health Education Intervention on Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in 20 Cities in China

Objective To investigate the effects of health education on patients with diabetes mellitus in cities in China Methods A comprehensive health education on diabetes, including distribution of health education materials and mass media publicity, was carried out among 19000 patients with diabetes in 59 hospitals in 20 cities, in mainland China At the same time a questionnaire survey was conducted among these patients Patients out of them received personal interview Results 95 3% suffered from type 2 diabetes and 2 6% from type 1 diabetes 92 4% adopted diet, 75 6% participated in regular exercise; 34 8% with normal fasting blood sugar; 42 5% with normal postprandial blood sugar; 11 6% with normal hemoglobin, 10 4% with abnormal hemoglobin, and 88 0% refused to be tested ; 69 9% with complications; 95 4% expressed their needs for health education, 91 7% needed telephone counseling and mailed health education materials; correct answer rates about the question on the cause of diabetes, whether diabetics should pay attention to their blood pressure and blood lipid, whether diabetes can be cured, normal fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar, and at what level glycosylated hemoglobin should be controlled were 86 3%, 93 8%, 88 1%, 49 4%, 26 2%, and 25 6% respectively Conclusion The health education intervention carried out by multiple sectors is successful However, for many cities there is still a long way to go