Self management plays a vital role in the effective management of diabetes. A study published in ‘Science Direct’ which evaluated the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on levels of self-management in individuals with type 2 diabetes revealed that covid-19 had negative effects in this aspect.

The cross-sectional descriptive type of study was conducted among 378 individuals with type 2 diabetes attending the endocrinology clinic and outpatients’ department of a government hospital who agreed to participate in the research. In the collection of data, a Patient Identification Form, Visual Analog Scales (an Anxiety VAS and a Stress VAS), and the Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) were used. The Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ) total mean score of the individuals with type 2 diabetes was 5.25 ± 1.04. Their anxiety total mean score was 0.32 ± 1.56, and their total mean stress score was 7.06 ± 1.62. Increased smoking, reduced physical activity, difficulty in getting support from health professionals, increased anxiety and stress levels were found to be risk factors affecting the self-management of diabetes.

The observations show that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on the self-management levels of people with type 2 diabetes. The researchers opined that self-management skills can be increased by widening access to services such as telemedicine and e-health for individuals with type 2 diabetes to manage their own conditions, to determine problems, which arise, and in the long term to encourage behavioral changes.