The Effect of a Supportive-Educative Nursing Intervention on Weight Loss and Perceived Self Care in Overweight Women With Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of risk factors that are precursors to
diabetes and cardiovascular disease. More women than men are diagnosed with metabolic
syndrome. Emphasis on diagnosis of pre-diabetes has resulted in further interest in
metabolic syndrome and the need for weight reduction. Advanced practice nurses care for
women with overweight and obesity in the primary care setting; however there is a lack
of evidence to support the effectiveness of nursing interventions to assist women with
metabolic syndrome lose weight.
Based on Orem's Self-Care Deficit Nursing Theory, this study investigated the
use of a specific supportive-educative nursing intervention to assist individuals make
healthy lifestyle choices to reduce body weight. A pre-test post-test, two group
experimental design was used. It was hypothesized that women given individualized support, education, and guidance about lifestyle modification, which included
carbohydrate counting, would lose more weight and have greater self-care ability than
women given general support and education.
The sample included 51 pre-menopausal women between ages 19 and 55 who had
been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. Body weight and perceived self-care, using the
Self-as-Carer inventory, were measured at the onset of the study and again three months
later. The two groups did not differ significantly as to weight or perceived self-care at
baseline or at conclusion of the study. A repeated measures analysis of variance for
weight loss and perception of self care was calculated and the results indicated that there
was no significant difference in weight loss (p=.13) or perception of self care (p=.85)
between the two groups.
The use of a supportive-educative individualized nursing intervention enhanced
participant awareness of healthy lifestyle choices. Further research is needed to determine
the effectiveness of the intervention with a larger, more ethnically diverse sample and
with participants diagnosed with other metabolic disorders.