The Impact of Social Support on Self-care of Patients With Diabetes: What Is the Effect of Diabetes Type? Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Purpose This meta-analysis examined relationships between social support and self-care in type 1 (T1DM) and 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods We searched for published and unpublished studies using the following databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, and Medline. MeSH search terms included diabetes mellitus, social support, caregiver, self-care, self-management, self-care skills, and coping behavior. Studies reporting correlations between social support and self-care were included. Results Initially, 2095 studies were extracted. After eliminating duplicate and irrelevant studies, 28 studies involving 5242 patients with diabetes were included. Of these, 22 studies examined T2DM subjects. Social support was significantly associated with self-care (k = 28, r = .28, 95% CI: .21-.34, P < .001). Among the diabetes self-care types, the strongest effect was found for glucose monitoring (k = 6, r = .21, 95% CI: .08-.33). The relationship between social support and self-care was stronger in T2DM (k = 22, r = .30, 95% CI: .22-.37), relative to T1DM, samples (k = 5, r = .22, 95% CI: .02-.38). Conclusion It was concluded that the overall effect size for social support on self-care was moderate, and its strength differed by ethnic majority within the sample, type of social support measures, and publication status.