Ações educacionais em pacientes com diabetes mellitus de um ambulatório de nutrição clínica

Abstract

To verify the effects of educational intervention on knowledge about the disease, food consumption and anthropometric status of patients with Diabetes mellitus (DM), attended at a Clinical Nutrition outpatient clinic in the western border of Rio Grande do Sul. Methods: This was a longitudinal study that included patients with previous diagnosis of Diabetes mellitus types 1 and 2. The study was divided into 6 moments distributed over 63 days. Data regarding socio-demographic status, knowledge about the disease, food consumption and anthropometric status were collected. The intervention occurred both individually and in groups, through dynamics, illustrative materials, folders and videos. Results: Twenty-one subjects participated in the study. It was found that 100% of the sample had Type 2 DM. It was observed that most of the sample was female (n= 18), with a mean age of 58.6 (SD=10.0) years. Regarding the knowledge about the disease, the patients had, on average, 6.6 (SD=2.3) correct answers at the beginning of the study from a total of 15 questions. After the educational actions, the number of correct answers was significantly higher, with a mean of 9.9 (SD=3.0) hits (p <0.001). In relation to food consumption, there was a significant increase in the frequency of consumption of raw salad (p = 0.007), vegetables (p = 0.005) and fruits (p = 0.009); and a significant reduction in the consumption of potato chips, packet potatoes and fried snacks (p = 0.007). Anthropometric data showed a significant reduction in body mass index (p = 0.009), arm circumference (p = 0.015) and abdominal circumference (p = 0.001) after the intervention. Conclusions: The actions of nutritional education promoted significant changes in relation to knowledge about the disease, food consumption and anthropometric status. The results demonstrate the importance of nutritional monitoring and the development of health promotion programs for patients with type 2 diabetes.