A meta-analysis of the effects of education on self-management in patients with type 2 diabetes

This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of empowerment education on self-management ability, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and body mass index (BMI) in adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before April 1, 2025. Two independent reviewers screened the studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis was conAuthors’ contributions Renhao Xu and Zhengrong Xu conceived of the study, and Xin Li and Wenjuan Deng participated in its design and coordination, Minghui Zhang and Baoping Luo helped to draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.ducted using R 4.0.5 software. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for continuous outcomes. A total of 11 RCTs were included. Meta-analysis showed that empowerment education significantly improved patients’ self-management ability (SMD = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.26–1.21, p < .05; I2 = 93.4%). In addition, empowerment education interventions led to significant reductions in HbA1c (SMD = –0.44, 95% CI: −0.76 to −0.11, p < .05; I2 = 91.6%) and FPG (SMD = –0.51, 95% CI: −0.78 to −0.24, p < .05; I2 = 69.2%). However, there was no significant effect on BMI (SMD = 0.06, 95% CI: −0.17 to 0.29, p > .05; I2 = 80.3%). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the stability of these findings. The funnel plots did not reveal substantial publication bias. The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that empowerment education markedly enhances self-management ability and glycemic control in adult patients with T2DM, but does not significantly affect BMI.