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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to identify level of glucose control among community dwelling older adults with type 2 diabetes in Korea.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to describe the relationship between depression to self-care and glucose control among older adults with type 2 diabetes in Korea.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey conducted with 148 older adults (age range 65-91, mean 76.29±5.10) at a senior center of a metropolitan city of Korea. Inclusion criteria were duration of diabetes (>6 months before recruitment), and being on diabetes medication. After a blood sample for HbA1C was obtained from the participants, we collected data on diabetes self-care, diabetes family support, depression, level of depression, and demographics by face-to-face interview
Results: Participants were 73% male, 57% had more than 6 years of education, and had average duration of diabetes for 10.6 (±9.31) years. Fifty percents of the participants had HbA1c higher than 7.0% with mean level 7.17%. The level of depression was positively related with self-care (r=-0.23, p< .01 ) but not related with HbA1C. The duration of diabetes diagnosis was positively related with HbA1C (r=0.22, p< .01). No significant relationship was found between self-care and HbA1C, and it was consistent when the duration of diabetes diagnosis was controlled. Family support has no relationship with depression or self-care.
Conclusion: Only a half of the community dwelling older adults with type 2 diabetes had optimal level of diabetes control. Identification and intervention of depression is important because depression is associated with self-care. Based on the association between HbA1C and the duration of diagnosis, it is recommended to examine the effect of self-care on HbA1C by different groups of duration of diabetes diagnosis in the future study.