Abstract: Objective To investigate the diabetes mellitus(DM) related knowledge of DM patients and analyze the factors influencing health education effect.Methods Besides drug treatment,156 old patients with type 2 DM received intensive diabetes education(special lectures on diabetes control) every month for the first half a year,then once every 3 months to 1 year.The frequency receiving intensi000ve education of patients was recorded and changes of fast blood glucose(FBG),postprandial 2 hours blood glucose(P2hBG) and HbA1c were monitored.Results The number of patients receiving intensive education decreased from 156 at start to 33 at the 12th month,the compliance rate was only 21.2%.The full data of 32 cases showed that the levels of FBG and P2hBG decreased significantly(all P<0.01),but the level of HbA1c was no changed.Conclusion Health education can improve the therapeutic effect,but the compliance rate of patients is very low,it influences the health education effect of DM patients.

Key words: diabetes mellitus, health education, influencing factor