Type 2 diabetes patients are more amenable to change following a contextualised diabetes education programme in Malaysia

The aim of the study is to determine the impact of diabetes education on patients' glycaemic control. A prospective 18-month intervention study was conducted at four ambulatory diabetes centres. Poorly controlled type 2 diabetes patients attended an hour of structured diabetes education at their respective diabetes centres. A month post-intervention patients were contacted through telephone and followed up for 18 months. Anthropometric measurements and socio-demographic details were collected during the first visit. HbA1C blood test for each patient was taken at beginning and end of study. Patients' diabetes knowledge showed 80% obtained Excellent or Very Good score. The Telephone Contact (TC) retention rate was 75.52% at 18 months. There was a significant improvement (p=0.001) in patients' glycaemic control with a reduction in HbA1C of ≥1% from baseline. Diabetes education intervention contributed positively to significant glycaemic improvement and should be embedded within a structured diabetes care delivery system.