The relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management in patients with diabetes

BACKGROUND: Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Metabolic control and following diet therapy in teenagers with type 1 diabetes are weaker than children before the adolescence stage. One of the most important factors influencing self-management seems to be spiritual intelligence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management in patients with diabetes. METHODS: The population of this descriptive cross-sectional study consisted of all adolescents with type 1 diabetes referring to the clinic of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran, which were 194 people. Data were collected by interview and using a questionnaire. Sampling method was available or simple sampling. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software. RESULTS: The majority of people were in the middle period of adolescence. More than half (88.5%) of them had a moderate and good economic situation and the majority of them (62.5%) had a history of diabetes in the family. Most of the people (56.5%) had an average duration of diabetes. More than half of the subjects were the first and second children of the family. CONCLUSION: The results showed that self-management increased with increasing spiritual intelligence of individuals, and with decreasing spiritual intelligence, self-management decreased; in other words, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual intelligence and self-management.