Dietary Intervention for Glycaemic Control among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at the Medical Clinic, Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka
Author(s): Sundaresan Thadchanamoorthy, Kisokanth Gnanaselvam*, Kumanan Somasuriyam and Majitha Seyed Ibrahim
Abstract
Background: Health education on the proper diet is of paramount importance in the management of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The study was aimed to assess the effectiveness of health education on low carbohydrate diet and standard recommended diabetic diet among T2DM patients in the medical clinics of Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka Methods: A prospective intervention study was conducted among 135 patients with T2DM. Participants were randomly assigned into control (n=45, group I), an intervention group with a standard diet (n=45, group II), and an intervention group with a low carbohydrate diet (n=45, group III). The primary outcome was glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c). ANOVA was used to compare the means among all three groups and p <0.05 was considered statistically significant for all tests. Results: After 3 months, mean HbA1c was significantly lower in group III compared to group I and group II [F (2, 132)=5.28, p=0.006], and the mean difference of HbA1c was declined by 1.07 % in group III. A statistically significant difference was observed in the mean differences of HbA1c level across three groups [F (2, 132)=8.84, p=0.000]. Further, there was no statistically significant difference was observed in the HbA1c level across all three groups at 6 months (>0.05). Conclusions: HbA1c level was significantly reduced among the intervention group with a low carbohydrate diet. Self-management of T2DM through dietary intervention was successful with positive glycaemic control. Sustainability of glycaemic control cannot be possible after the cessation of dietary intervention.