Introduction: Social support can be defined as the interactive process through which emotional and instrumental support is obtained. Social support has been found to be a relevant factor in diabetes self-management. Diabetes refers to complex chronic metabolic conditions that are characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose if untreated. Diabetes is one of the biggest health care problems facing Yazd with regards to prevalence, cost, and the onus it places on patients and its high morbidity rates. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among social factors on the control and treatment of type II diabetes. Methods: The population under study included 4990 diabetes type II patients referring to Yazd Diabetes Research Center and a sample of 256 cases was selected by simple random sampling method through statistical society. This study was based on survey method and the instrument for collecting data was a questionnaire. Results: About 65.4% of the patients were women and 35.6 were men. The mean age of patients was 56 years. Significant correlations were found between perceived social support (r= 0.193, p= 0.001), positive reinforcing behaviors (r= 0.455, p= 0.000), and adherence to self-care activities. Misguided support behaviors did not show a significant correlation with adherence to self-care activities. A total of 25% of variance in self-care behavior can be explained by positive reinforcing behaviors and misguided support behaviors. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that by increasing the positive reinforcing behaviors and perceived social support and decreasing the misguided support behaviors, the diabetic patients can adhere better to self-care activities.

Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Type II, Self-care, Social Support

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