Abstract

BACKGROUND
Heavy alcohol drinking negatively influences the self-care of diabetics requiring strict management of their lifestyle. However, related studies on the clinical interventions for diabetics with alcohol drinking problems are rare. Thus, the relationship between alcohol drinking problems and self-care of male diabetics was studied, and the physician's recognition of the drinking problems also evaluated. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 88 middle-aged male diabetics. They were selected from 4 general hospitals between Nov. 2001 and Feb. 2002. The subjects' alcohol drinking problems and degree of diabetes self-care were examined. Their charts were also reviewed for the physician's recognition of diabetic' alcohol related drinking problems. RESULT: Among the subjects, 53.4% were categorized as problem drinkers and 26% as alcohol dependent. Furthermore, 67.5% of diabetics with drinking problems had their alcohol drinking problems recognized by the physician. The mean self-care among diabetics with and without alcohol drinking problems were 15.0. The mean self-care among diabetics without alcohol drinking problems was 20.6(p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, the importance of educator's sensitivity to diabetics' drinking problems and the use of screening tools to find alcohol drinking problems at an early stage have been highlighted. Further studies on the development of new program are suggested in order to effectively intervene in diabetics with alcohol drinking problems.

• Keywords: Alcohol drinking problems;Diabetes self-care;Male diabetics;