Impact of Self-care Education Program in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes in Primary Care in the Basque Country

Main objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of the "Diabetes Self-Management Programme" (DSMP) on the metabolic control, cardiovascular risk reduction, quality of life and self-efficacy in adult patients with type 2 diabetes, compared with current standard care of patients with type 2 diabetes, in the context of Osakidetza's Primary Care network. Secondary objectives: * To evaluate the impact of the implementation of DSMP in the use of health services. * To assess the impact of DSMP in the cost of treatment of the involved population. * To evaluate the improvement in physical activity and diet patterns among the participants. * To describe the feasibility of implementing the DSMP in the Basque Country's primary health care system Methodology: Randomized clinical trial in which patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes aged between 18 and 80 years pertaining to 4 primary regions of the Basque country, who agree to participate in the study, will be randomly assigned to two groups: the intervention group (the DSMP programme) and the control group. The intervention will be performed by trained patients with type 2 diabetes and health professionals and it will consist in 6 group sessions of two and a half hours each, on a weekly basis with a overall duration of 6 weeks. The session content includes techniques for dealing with problems, promotion of exercise, nutrition concepts, proper use of medication, effective communication and basic knowledge about diabetes and its complications. The sessions are supported with educational material. The main outcome is the improvement of HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) levels. Secondary outcomes are reduction of cardiovascular risk, increase of quality of life and self-efficacy. The results will be analyzed at 6, 12 and 24 months after the intervention. Hypothesis: An educational intervention on patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus based on the program DSMP conducted by previously trained lay persons and health professionals, improve