Objective To explore the correlation between blood glucose and self-management behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus before initial basal insulin therapy. Methods A convenient sample of 200 patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus who were hospitalized in a tertiary hospital from February to August 2016 were enrolled in the study on a voluntary basis. Patients’ demographic information, fast blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and scores of diabetes self-care activities were gathered through questionnaires. Results A total of 193 valid questionnaires were recovered. Before starting basal insulin therapy, the mean blood glucose and the mean glycosylated hemoglobin of the 193 patients were (12.22±3.95) mmol/L and (10.01±2.38)%, respectively, with 12 patients (6.22%) meeting the goal of fasting blood glucose ≤7 mmol/L and 18 patients (9.33%) meeting the goal of glycosylated hemoglobin <7%, respectively. The total score of self-care activities was 26.76±14.77, in which 3 patients (1.55%) performed well. Spearman analysis demonstrated that the total score of self-care activities was negatively correlated with fast blood glucose ( r=–0.401, P<0.001) and glycosylated hemoglobin (r=–0.227, P=0.028). Conclusions The blood glucose levels and self-management behaviors in diabetic patients at the beginning of initial basal insulin therapy are not optimistic. Enhanced management of type 2 diabetic patients with initial basal insulin therapy is the prerequisite to promote diabetes self-care activities.