Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Insulin Use and its Adverse Effects in Adult Diabetic Population in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background and Aims: A proper assessment and understanding of knowledge, attitude and practice factors among patients is helpful in diabetes, for which prevention and control necessitate a lifelong adoption of healthy lifestyles. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding insulin use and its adverse effects among the diabetic population. Methods: A cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study was conducted over a period of three months on patients of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus on insulin therapy for more than three months and attending medicine/diabetes outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital. A pretested structured questionnaire comprising of 27 items was administered through a face-to-face interview. Results: Responses from 295 subjects were analyzed. Most of the subjects were unaware of different types of insulin (65.8%), believed that insulin could be stopped once blood glucose levels normalize (63.1%) and did not keep a readily available source of blood glucose when went out (53.9%). Males were more knowledgeable regarding insulin use and adverse effects compared to female (p =0.0063). Higher education was associated with good practice regarding insulin use (p=0.0287). Longer duration of diabetes was associated with better knowledge (p=0.0004). Longer duration of insulin use was associated with better knowledge (p=0.0001) and practice (p=0.0155). Conclusions: A proper educational intervention is needed that may create awareness among insulin users on the aspect of knowledge that would rather improve their attitude and practice.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of insulin among diabetic patients and pharmacists in Egypt: “cross-sectional observational study”

“…Most of the patients and the pharmacists agreed that insulin therapy was more beneficial in regulating blood glucose levels in comparison with oral antidiabetic drugs; however, insulin injection was painful in 55.9% and 46.1% of the patients and pharmacists respectively. Most of them (60.4% of patients and 65.5% of pharmacists) did not agree with the fact that following the administration of insulin, a healthy diet was not needed to maintain blood glucose levels, same results were reported in a study conducted in Eastern India [ 34 ]. On the negative side, around half of the patients reported that they believe that regular use of insulin leads to addiction as they associate needles with drug abuse, and when they stop using insulin, they experience discomfort.…”