The effect of a low impact exercise with cheat meal reinforcement to the self-care of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

• Published in: International journal of nursing practice Vol. 18; p. 130
• Main Authors: Ayson, PR, Ayson, CD, Avendano, VL, Austria, JP, Bacani, CM
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Richmond Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-02-2012
• Subjects: Chronic illnesses; Diabetes; Epidemics; Exercise; Lifestyles; Mortality; Philippines
• EISSN: 1440-172X
• ISSN: 1322-7114

Chronic illnesses have reached global epidemic proportions and now cause more deaths than all other diseases combined (WHO, 2011). Diabetes Mellitus has remained the seventh leading cause of death in the Philippines since 2005 (NSO in figures, 2010). This study drew on the importance of lifestyle modification in relation to the self-care among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients. This paper aimed to examine the effect of regular exercise with cheat meal reinforcement to the self-care of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients. A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the pretest-posttest conditions of the experimental and control group. A non-probability sampling technique was used to allocate the subjects to the control and experimental groups. A questionnaire with seven components, namely, Readiness for Self-Care, Medications, Diet, Exercise, Foot Care, Blood Glucose Monitoring and Check-ups was utilised to assess the effectiveness of low impact exercise with cheat meal reinforcement to the self-care of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients. The post-test scores of the experimental group significantly increased as compared to their pretest scores in all components of self-care. There is no significant difference between the pretest and posttest of the control group. The posttest score of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Between the two groups, readiness for self-care was the component which improved the most while medication, exercise and blood glucose showed no significance.