Published online Feb 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i4.1226
Peer-review started: August 10, 2021
First decision: September 5, 2021
Revised: October 21, 2021
Accepted: December 28, 2021
Article in press: December 28, 2021
Published online: February 6, 2022
Processing time: 166 Days and 16.3 Hours
The number of elderly individuals with diabetes is dramatically increasing. Diabetes is a long-term condition and a noncommunicable disease and requires intensive daily self-management. Understanding of self-management from the patients’ perspectives is important to nurses, healthcare providers, and resea
To examine and synthesize qualitative studies that explore the experiences of elderly people in self-managing diabetes.
Electronic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, CINAH, PsycINFO, PubMed, CNKI, and WANFADATA. Relevant research was identified by manually searching reference lists and gray literature. Only English and Chinese publications were included. The Critical Appraisal Skills Program was used to assess the quality of the research. The Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research approach was used to assess the confidence of the findings.
A total of 10 qualitative studies were included, and content analysis was performed. Five themes were identified: The need for knowledge about diabetes care, support systems, functional decline, attitudes toward diabetes, and healthy lifestyle challenges.
This present review provides a deep and broad understanding of the experiences in the self-management of diabetes and can be valuable to nursing practice and provide recommendations for future research.
Core Tip: In the establishment of strategies that enable the elderly to self-manage diabetes, the particularities of this group need to be addressed. The self-management experiences of the elderly refer to information, social support, physical, attitude, and lifestyle dimensions. To identify the facilitators and barriers of self-management, nurses, healthcare providers, and researchers can develop self-management and education programs for this population.