Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Good Self-Care Practice among People Living with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Ethiopia: A National Call to Bolster Lifestyle Changes

Abstract

Background Self-care practice is the mainstay of management for good glycemic control. Despite the presence of a few pocket studies, no comprehensive study was conducted in Ethiopia to demonstrate the overall good self-care practice among diabetic patients in Ethiopia. Therefore, we intended to conduct this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall good self-care practice among people living with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Ethiopia. Methods We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane library, Google scholar, and direct Google to retrieve relevant studies. Forest plot was used to present the pooled estimate of good self-care practice using DerSimonian and Laird s random-effects model. We checked publication bias using Egger s test and funnel plot. Potential heterogeneity was tested using the I-squared statistic. Moreover, subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed. Results In this review, 12 primary studies (with a total sample size of 4030) were included. Because of the presence of heterogeneity, we employed a random-effects model. After running the random-effects model, the pooled estimate of overall good self-care practice was 51.12% (95% CI: 41.90–60.34). Furthermore, the pooled estimate of good dietary practice was 50.18% (95% CI: 32.75–67.60), good physical exercise practice was 48.29% (95% CI: 34.14–62.43), the good footcare practice was 63.61% (95% CI: 45.56–81.66), and appropriate self-monitoring of the blood glucose level was 31.89% (95% CI: −4.62–68.41). In this meta-analysis, there was serious interstudy variation, but there was no publication bias. Conclusions The overall good self-care practice among people living with T2DM was low which necessitates the need for designing strategies to increase the self-care practice. The health sector has to bolster awareness creation to allow better plasma glucose control and preventing diabetes-related complications. This trial is registered with CRD42019147694.