Knowledge of Diabetic Complications in a Diabetic Population

Abstract

This cross-sectional, questionnaire based descriptive study was carried out to evaluate the individual knowledge of diabetic complications in the diabetic patients and also to find the association of knowledge towards educational status and other socio-demographic profiles. A total 184 patients were included in this study. In this study, we found 91 subjects (48.9%) knew that heart disease was the most important diabetic complication, if blood glucose level wasn't controlled properly followed by cerebrovascular disease 27(14.7%), renal disease 24(13%) and eye diseases 9(4.9%). Unfortunately, awareness about frequency of diabetic foot disease, peripheral neurological problems, occurrence of sudden death were found in only 1(0.5%) cases. Awarness about other complications (miscellaneous) was 12(6.5%) and 8(4.3%) didn't know any of the above mentioned complications. Each subject was also asked whether they were apprehensive about the dreaded diabetic complications or not. Statistical difference wasn't observed in any of the parameter (i.e., individual education, an area of residence, monthly income, occupations, family history of individual) when compared with the degree of apprehension. None of the parameters was statistically significant. Further expansion of diabetic education programs like using mass media and involving national curriculum of education can improve self-regulatory awareness of diabetic complications which may reduce the morbidity and mortality of diabetic patients. Key words: diabetic complication, apprehension. doi: 10.3329/jom.v10i2.2821 J MEDICINE 2009; 10 : 90-93

Knowledge of diabetes among type 2 diabetes patients attending a primary health care clinic in Sri Lanka

“…Patients' knowledge about diabetic eye disease was also poor in other studies carried out in the South Asian region. Hoque et al in Bangladesh, for example, found that only 4.9% of their study participants were aware about diabetic eye disease [9].…”

“…An extensive literature search was conducted in formulating the questionnaire and a number of studies based on questionnaires with similar questions were used [8][9][10]. The questionnaire was first drafted by the 3 investigators, 2 family physicians and a community physician.…”

Effectiveness of self-learning module on the knowledge and practices regarding foot care among type II diabetes patients in East Delhi, India

“…This is slightly higher than 0.5% diabetic patients who had awareness about diabetic foot and peripheral neurological problems in Khulna Diabetic Centre, Bangladesh (Hoque et al). 17 The differences in knowledge regarding foot care among the diabetes patients across the studies could be due to the different levels of diabetes care education provided by the health care professionals in different settings and also on the literacy level of the study subjects.…”

Evaluation of individual awareness of diabetes, related risk factors and complications in urban and rural people of Noakhali region, Bangladesh: a population-based study

“…31 A study conducted in Singapore demonstrated that diabetes related education had changed the self-care practice among diabetic patients. 32 Another study showed that education had a significant role in diabetic awareness to keep correct blood glucose level. 33 It is known that inactivity or a low quantity of physical activity can be a work associated risk factor for diabetes as considering that some professions or occupations, due to its own nature, reduce professionals' physical activity.…”