Self-Care Behaviors of Mothers with Gestational Diabetes Treated with Insulin Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

The prevalence of gestational diabetes during pregnancy is one of the major maternal and fetal complications. Self-care behavior could be an effective method to control gestational diabetes induced by pregnancy. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is one of the popular conceptual frameworks for the study of human action and the prediction and understanding of particular behaviors, including self-care behavior. With this background in mind, this study was performed to evaluate the predictive factors for self-care behaviors based on TPB in patients with gestational diabetes treated with insulin.
This descriptive and analytical study was performed on 60 women with gestational diabetes treated with insulin referring to diabetes clinic of Ommolbanin Hospital in Mashhad, Iran in 2014. The samples were randomly selected and evaluated based on a researcher-made questionnaire of awareness, gestational diabetes self-care behaviors, the variables of the theory of planned behavior theory (TPB) (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention), and fasting blood glucose and two-hour postprandial blood glucose tests. Data analysis was performed in SPSS V.16 using descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation, multiple regression analysis, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and independent t-tests).
A direct relationship was observed between intention and perceived behavioral control indices and self-care behaviors. Moreover, attitude affected self-care behaviors through both intention and perceived behavioral control. With regard to total effects of the variables, perceived behavioral control was the second predictive factor for self-care after behavioral intention.
TPB emphasizes on behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control, which could be used as a framework to design educational interventions for promotion of gestational diabetes self-care behaviors in mothers.