Assessing knowledge and self-efficacy among nursing students to operate a diabetes behavior-change program in Kolkata, India

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of a community-based American Association of Diabetes Educators diabetes behavior-change program on diabetes risk, knowledge, and self-efficacy in Indian nursing students. A prospective, repeated measures (pre-post-test) quasi-experimental design with purposive sampling was used with 48 nursing students from Mission of Mercy School of Nursing, Kolkata, India. Subjects, three groups of 16 students, participated in a diabetes behavior-change educational program using culturally modified training sessions. Diabetes risk was assessed with body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, and serum glucose. Diabetes knowledge was assessed using the Diabetes Knowledge Test 2 (general and insulin-use subscales) and self-efficacy with the Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale. To evaluate the intervention’s efficacy with 44 students who completed the intervention and assessments, data were evaluated using descriptive statistics and paired student t-test. Subjects were female, single, 20.55 + 1.6 years old, of the Hindu faith (n=31, 64.6%) South Asian ethnicity (n=45, 93.76%), without health insurance (n=40, 83.3%) and no family history of diabetes (n=29, 60.4%). A significant difference was demonstrated in glucose (p<.01), self-efficacy (p<.01), and insulin-use diabetes knowledge (p<.01). The benefit of a diabetes behavior-change program on nursing students’ insulin-use knowledge and self-efficacy suggests Indian nursing may be interested to adopt the American Association of Diabetes Educators program as part of their curriculum. The negative impact on glucose requires further exploration. Students may apply the knowledge and skills learned with themselves, each other, and at both clinical sites and within their communities.