effects of self-care education on perceived stress in women with gestational diabetes under insulin treatment

background: gestational diabetes (ga) is a common complication, associated with adverse prenatal outcomes and perceived stress. the effects of education on perceived stress have been widely investigated, whereas the role of self-care in ga has been less noted. aim: to determine the effects of self-care education on perceived stress in women with ga under insulin treatment. methods: in this randomized controlled trial, 60women with ga under insulin treatment (at 24-30 weeks of gestation), referring to the diabetes clinic of mashhad omolbanin hospital, were divided into intervention and control groups in 2014. self-care education included four one-hour sessions (one-week intervals) in groups consisting of 6-8 members. the researcher-made self-care questionnaire and cohen’s perceived stress scale were completed before and four weeks after the intervention. independent t-test, mann-whitney and covariance analysis were performed, using spss version 16. results: the mean age of the participants was 32.4±0.5 years in the intervention group and 31.4±4.8 years in the control group. before the intervention, the perceived stress score in the intervention group (27.6±8.0) was not significantly different from that of the control group (27.5±6.8) (p=0.74). however, after the intervention, the scores significantly reduced in the intervention group (23.4±8.3), compared to the control group (28.1±7.5) (p<0.001). conclusion: self-care education might improve self-care and reduce perceived stress in patients with ga. therefore, self-care is suggested as an effective method for reducing stress in these patients.