To investigate the effect of intervention based on paired blood glucose monitoring on patients′ self-management ability and blood glucose control.

From January 2017 to June 2018, patients who regularly visited the diabetes common care outpatient department of Peking University Hospital for more than a year (the frequency was once every 3 months) were analyzed before and after intervention. Hemoglobin a1c (HbA1c), height, and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated after the patients were initially diagnosed and followed for one year, and their self-management ability was evaluated using the diabetes self-management behavior scale 6. At the time of the patient′s initial diagnosis, the patient was instructed to carry out paired blood glucose monitoring before and after meals at home, and the patient′s diet, exercise, and other activities were appropriately adjusted according to the monitoring results. At the time of diagnosis for one year, the average frequency of actual matched blood glucose monitoring per week in the month before the patient′s visit was investigated. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare the effects of different paired monitoring frequencies on patients′ diet, exercise, self-measured blood glucose, compliance to doctor′s advice of monitoring, foot care, and medication. The t-test was used to compare the difference of BMI and HbA1c between different paired monitoring frequency groups.

A total of 153 patients met the inclusion criteria and completed data collection and scale evaluation. In the first month before 1 year of diagnosis, 86 patients who had a paired blood glucose monitoring frequency less than once a week on average were included in a non-paired blood glucose monitoring group, and 67 patients who had a paired blood glucose monitoring frequency equal to or more than once a week were included in a paired blood glucose monitoring group. After 1 year, the scores of diet [7.00 (5.00-7.00) vs 5.00 (3.00-7.00)], self-measured blood glucose [4.50 (2.00-7.00) vs 2.00 (0.25-4.00)], and compliance to doctor′s advice of monitoring [5.00 (2.00-7.00) vs 2.00 (0-3.75)] in the paired group were significantly higher than those in the non-paired group (Z=-2.663, P=0.008; Z=-3.851, P<0.001; Z=-3.892, P<0.001). At initial diagnosis and one year after diagnosis, there were no significant differences in sports, foot care, or medication score (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in BMI or HbA1c between the two groups (P>0.05).

Intervention based on paired blood glucose monitoring is helpful for diabetes patients to adjust diet according to blood glucose results, promote healthy eating behavior, and improve their compliance to hyperglycemia monitoring.