Subjects and sample selection
mental illness, fasting blood glucose, dementia, acute illness, diabetic, diabetes
DISEASE, SEVERE VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, COMPLICATIONS, DIABETES
A total of 216 eligible participants were enrolled in the study. Five hundred eight patients were excluded from the study for various reasons. These included 294 patients with other types of diabetes, 97 patients with less than three months of follow-up, and 117 patients with serious complications. The study included consenting patients, aged 20 to 70, with no complications, who stayed for at least six months, and had no intention of leaving. Patients who had other types of diabetes, patients who had disease duration of less than 6 months, refused consent, patient who were unable to participate in interventions based on physician assessment (e.g., acute illness, mental illness, and dementia) and patients with severe visual impairment were excluded from the study.All samples (216) were divided into intervention (108) and control (108) groups assuming an equal sample distribution. Intervention and control groups of diabetic patients were selected from different locations within the zone. In all groups, participants were matched with age, body max index (BMI), and gender, and had fasting blood glucose levels > 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) [Study participants were registered under a specific code but were not informed of their group assignment and thus were unaware of differences between the intervention and control groups. Study participants were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups at an individual level. The list of participants and their codes are kept only by the researcher. All groups of study participants were geographically separated to avoid the risk of contamination. Additionally, patients, health care providers, and promoters (health educators) were blinded to the study results to avoid the hawthorn effect.