Background: Previous research has failed to examine more than one self-care behaviour in type 2 diabetes patients in\nGhana. The purpose of this study is to investigate adult Ghanaian type 2 diabetes patients� adherence to four self-care\nactivities: diet (general and specific), exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and foot care.\nMethods: Consenting type 2 diabetes patients attending diabetes outpatient clinic appointments at three hospitals in\nthe Tamale Metropolis of Ghana completed a cross-sectional survey comprising the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care\nActivities Measure, and questions about demographic characteristics and diabetes history. Height and weight were also\nmeasured. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with adherence to\neach of the four self-care behaviours.\nResults: In the last 7 days, participants exercised for a mean (SD) of 4.78 (2.09) days and followed diet, foot care and\nSMBG for a mean (SD) of 4.40 (1.52), 2.86 (2.16) and 2.15 (0.65) days, respectively. More education was associated with a\nhigher frequency of reported participation in exercise (r = 0.168, p = 0.022), following a healthy diet (r = 0.223, p = 0.002)\nand foot care (r = 0.153, p = 0.037) in the last 7 days. Males reported performing SMBG (r = 0.198, p = 0.007) more\nfrequently than their female counterparts.\nConclusion: Adherence to diet, SMBG and checking of feet were relatively low. People with low education and\nwomen may need additional support to improve adherence to self-care behaviours in this type 2 diabetes population
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