The Effect of Community-Based Diabetes Exercise on Self-Efficacy and Blood Sugar Levels

People with diabetes mellitus (DM) need to manage their condition every day, and their confidence in doing so (self-efficacy) is closely tied to how well their blood glucose is controlled. Community programs in primary care seldom measure these two outcomes together. This study examined whether community-based diabetes exercise changed self-efficacy and blood glucose in patients with DM at the Deli Tua Community Health Center, Indonesia. We used a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design. Twenty-two patients who met the eligibility criteria were enrolled consecutively. They took part in supervised group diabetes exercise for about 25 minutes a day on four consecutive days. Self-efficacy was assessed with the Indonesian version of the Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (DMSES-I), and random blood glucose was checked with a glucometer. Because the data were normally distributed (Shapiro–Wilk, p > .05), the paired sample t-test was used. Mean self-efficacy rose from 34.14 ± 5.45 to 66.82 ± 9.67, while mean blood glucose fell from 225.64 ± 44.68 mg/dL to 179.32 ± 29.93 mg/dL (p < .001 for both). Group-based diabetes exercise in the community was associated with higher self-efficacy and lower blood glucose, and nurses can offer it as a simple, low-cost addition to routine diabetes care. The study had no control group, a small sample, and a short intervention, and it relied on random glucose rather than HbA1c. The results are therefore preliminary and should be tested in larger randomized trials with longer follow-up.