The Effect of Nutritional Counselling on Knowledge Level, Dietary Compliance, and Fasting Blood Glucose Levels in Outpatients with T2DM

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease that is increasingly common due to factors such as population growth, aging, urbanization, obesity, and lack of physical activity. Low adherence and understanding of the specialized diet among patients result in difficulties managing diabetes diets. This is primarily because patients only receive brief education from midwives regarding allowed and prohibited food items, which leads to inadequate comprehension of proper dietary management. Moreover, nutritional counselling has not been systematically implemented. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of nutritional counselling on dietary adherence among outpatients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) at Selopuro Community Health Center, Blitar Regency. This study employed a quantitative quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test approach. Thirty patients with T2DM at Selopuro Community Health Center were purposively sampled. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and questionnaires. Univariable analysis described respondent characteristics and pre-post counselling changes, while bivariate analysis using the Wilcoxon test assessed the effect of counselling. The study revealed a significant improvement in the intervention group that received counselling three times. Respondents’ knowledge improved from 80% categorized as poor to 73% as sufficient, dietary adherence improved from 80% non-compliant to 73% compliant, and poor fasting blood glucose levels decreased from 87% to 67%. In contrast, the control group, which received counselling only once, showed lesser improvements. Repeated nutritional counselling (three sessions) and dietary monitoring significantly improved knowledge, dietary adherence, and fasting blood glucose levels among patients with T2DM compared to the control group receiving a single counselling session.