The effect of a self-management program on knowledge, health behavior and health outcomes among individuals at risk for diabetes mellitus at Thakradan hospital, Kanchanaburi Province

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study, employing a one-group pretest-posttest design, aimed to evaluate the effects of a self-management program on knowledge, health behaviors, and health outcomes among individuals at risk for diabetes mellitus. The study was conducted at Thakradan Hospital from October to December 2025. The sample consisted of 50 individuals at risk for diabetes, selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments included: 1) a 12-week self-management program featuring the "Know Your Heart, Stay Away from Diabetes" handbook, integrated with a LINE Official Account (LINE OA) and 22) a knowledge questionnaire with a Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) reliability of .75 and 3) a health behavior scale with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) of .96 and a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .72. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the paired t-test.

The results revealed that after participating in the program, the participants’ mean scores for knowledge (Z = -6.03, p < .001) and health behaviors (t = -28.41, p < .001) increased significantly. Regarding health outcomes, there were significant reductions in waist circumference (Z = 5.39, p < .001) body mass index (Z = 4.23, p < .001) and blood glucose levels (Z = 6.15, p < .001). Furthermore, 100% of the participants achieved blood glucose levels within the normal range.