Dietary Educational Program and Its Effect on the Knowledge of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in Rivers State Nigeria

Background: Diet is one of the key risk factors of T2DM because many nations have experienced dietary changes favoring increased calorie consumption due of urbanization and economic expansion. However, many diabetic patients still suffer the complications of diabetes mellitus because of their poor knowledge of the dietary management of diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effects of a dietary educational program on the knowledge of diabetic patients. This study was carried out among patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Rivers State, Nigeria. This study used a quasi-experimental design. Multistage sampling techniques was used to enroll a total of 162 participants,  with 81 in the Control Group (CG) and 81 in the Experimental Group (EG), while Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) and University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) served as EG and CG respectively. Both groups received equal intervention of personalized meal timetables and 2 weekly phone call follow-ups. Additionally,   EG received Dietary education, using cooked and raw food demonstrations. Data was collected using a Semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data while the statistics analysis was conducted using SPSS version 22 statistical software with a p-value of <0.05 regarded as significant. Patients’ QoL, knowledge were assessed at baseline and six months (P1 & P3). The knowledge was classified into “good” fair and “poor,” At P1, EG had poor knowledge (EG: 17.3%) while CG had 18.5%. Knowledge at P3, 0% of patients in EG had poor knowledge while 17.3 % was seen in CG there was an improvement in both groups with p=0.001. Because of the educational program, the patients’ knowledge was affected positively at the end of the program. However, EG had better knowledge because of the demonstration of food. Thus, dietary intervention programs improved the knowledge of the patients.