International Research Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) poses a significant public health challenge in Nigeria, exacerbated by the psychosocial burden of the disease. While nurse-led education is a promising intervention, evidence regarding its impact on coping strategies and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Nigerian adults remains limited.

Method: A quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted with 332 adults with T2DM across three secondary healthcare facilities in Kaduna State. Participants received a six-week structured nurse-led diabetes education program covering self-management and coping skills. Outcomes were assessed using the Brief COPE inventory and WHOQOL-BREF instrument. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests and multiple linear regression. Post-intervention, significant improvements were observed in diabetes knowledge, total coping strategies, and HRQoL (p < 0.001 for all).

Result: Post-intervention, higher scores were observed for diabetes knowledge, total coping strategies, and HRQoL (p < 0.001 for all). While adaptive coping scores were higher, maladaptive coping scores were also higher post-program. Cross-sectional analysis indicated that post-intervention coping scores were significantly associated with post-intervention HRQoL (β = 0.184, p < 0.001), whereas knowledge scores were not. Tertiary education was also associated with better HRQoL.

Conclusion: Participants demonstrated higher knowledge, coping, and HRQoL scores following the nurse-led education program. The finding that coping skills, rather than knowledge alone, were associated with HRQoL suggests that educational interventions should prioritize psychological coping development. These hypothesis-generating findings support the need for controlled trials to evaluate structured, coping-focused nurse-led education in low-resource settings.