Effectiveness of an educational program for the control of glycated hemoglobin in patients with diabetes

• Autores: Juárez Marín, Perla Andrea, Lugos Castillo, Jeannet, Galicia Rodríguez, Liliana, Lescas Hernández, Marina María Isela, Villarreal Ríos, Enrique, Elizarrarás Rivas, Jesús
• Formato: artículo
• Fecha de Publicación: 2025
• Institución: Universidad de San Martín de Porres
• Repositorio: Horizonte médico
• Lenguaje: español
• OAI Identifier: oai:horizontemedico.usmp.edu.pe:article/3032
• Enlace del recurso: https://www.horizontemedico.usmp.edu.pe/index.php/horizontemed/article/view/3032
• Nivel de acceso: acceso abierto
• Materia: Education; Glycemic Control; Glycated Hemoglobin; Intervención Educativa; Control Glucémico; Hemoglobina Glucosilada

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an educational program for the control of glycatedhemoglobin (HbA1c) in patients with diabetes. Materials and methods: A before-and-after cohortstudy was conducted in patients with diabetes. Participants received an educational interventionconsisting of individualized monthly medical care by a family doctor and educational sessions bythe nursing staff over a six-month period. Follow-up was performed with a multidisciplinary team,with timely referrals to secondary care in ophthalmology, endocrinology and internal medicine,based on the specific needs of each patient. To ensure the temporal effect of the intervention inrelation to the impact on HbA1c, it was measured before and after the educational interventionfollowing the 2020 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes.Patients with normal HbA1c levels were excluded, and only those with elevated levels were included in the analysis. Each patient was considered unexposed prior to the intervention and exposed after six months, at the end of the intervention. Physical, sociodemographic and health-related characteristics were analyzed. The level of knowledgewas measured using the 24-item Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ-24), which classifies the results into three categories: adequate, intermediate and inadequate. The statistical analysis included means, confidence intervals for means, percentages,confidence intervals for percentages, the Komolgorov-Smirnov test to assess the normality of the HbA1c and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired groups. Results: A statistically significant difference was found before and after the intervention (p < 0.001). The mean HbA1c level before and after the intervention was 8.29 % and 7.64 %, respectively. The effectiveness of the educational intervention in improving HbA1c control accounted for 40.0 %. Conclusions: Although there was a reduction in HbA1c levels, the effectiveness of the educational program was limited.