Background and purpose: Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease in the world. The most important factor in controlling the disease is self-care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of some variables on self-care behaviors such as duration of disease, central obesity and diabetes knowledge. Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study 500 diabetic patients were selected in 2014 using stratified random sampling. The subjects were chosen from 752 patients registered as diabetic in Abyek health centers. Data was collected through questionnaires about demographic information, self-care and diabetes knowledge. χ2, independent T test and ANOVA were used to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics and self-care. Also, the multiple-linear-regression was used to predict the affecting factors on self-care. Results: A total of 464 patients participated in the study resulting in the response rate of 92.8%. The mean for self-care behavior score in patients with diabetes was 3.77±1.15. There was a significant association between self-care and different parameters including duration of diabetes (P= 0.013), type of treatment (P= 0.035), and central obesity (P= 0.046). The strongest predictors of self-care behavior were duration of disease (B= 0.170) and diabetes knowledge (B=-0.123). Conclusion: Despite the role of demographic factors that influence self-care behaviors, knowledge is also of great importance. Therefore, health workers and doctors should focus more on promoting diabetes knowledge.

Keywords: diabetes type2, self-care, diabetes knowledge

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