Abstract:
This study is a survey of experimental and quasi-experimental nursing research
about diabetic patients in Thailand. It deals with a total to 149 titles from the
appearance of the first piece of research in 1982 through to 2005. Of these, 141
research titles were directly focused on diabetic patients; 112 of these titles were
theses, and 29 titles were articles published in nursing, medical and public health
journals in Thailand. The objectives of this survey were to provide a summary relating
to the characteristics of the nursing research related to diabetic patients, and to
summarize the results of these studies based on categories of intervention strategy.
The intervention strategies used in these 141 research titles were classified into 7
categories namely: 1) health education; 2) health counseling; 3) group process;
4) reinforcement; 5) health services; 6) behavioral training; and 7) combination of
multi-strategies. Only 90 research titles used metabolic control to measure an
effectiveness of the interventions. Thirteen research titles used HbA1C. Only of these,
10 studies (76.92%) found significant results. Nineteen research titles used both
HbA1C and FBS, but significant findings of one of these measures were found in only
2 studies (10.53%) and significant findings of both measures were found in 13 pieces
of articles (68.42%). The significant findings of both HbA1C and FBS contribute
strong evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention being tested in controlling
blood sugar. Fifty-eight research titles used other type of metabolic control measures,
but only 46 titles (79.31%) found significant findings.
This survey also revealed that there has been very little research related to
diabetic patient, conducted by staff nurses. Thus, they should be encouraged to carry
out more research in this area. There must be strategies to encourage researchers to
publish their research findings because little published research were found during the
survey.