Facilitators and Barriers to Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose (SMBG) in Diabetic Patients

Objective: To determine factors that facilitate and are barriers to self-monitoring of blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients visiting family medicine clinics at a tertiary care teaching hospital Karachi Pakistan.

Methods: Approximately 255 patients were consecutively recruited from the clinics during April 2018 to May 2019 at Family Medicine outpatient clinics at the Aga Khan University Hospital. Data on socio-demographic status, facilitators and barriers to SMBG were extracted through a questionnaire, after obtaining an informed written consent. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 19.

Results: Among study participants 47.5% were above 50 years and 51.4% were males. About 30.2% of the participants were practicing SMBG at least once a month and 26% were practicing it daily. Fear of complications was the biggest facilitator (80.1%) and being expensive (51.4%) was barrier for SMBG. Over half of the SMBG practicing participants (59.7%) were diagnosed with diabetes for more than 05 years (p: 0.63).

Conclusion: Assessment of blood glucose is a critical component of diabetes treatment and management. It can motivate patients to become active participants in their own care. Health care providers should communicate and educate the patients about the advantages of SMBG.