Knowledge of type 2 diabetic patients about their illness: Pilot project

Objective: To evaluate the baseline level of knowledge and awareness of diabetic patients about their disease and it's complications. Methods: It was a Cross Sectional Survey conducted at Foundation Clinic, Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, in April 2004. A structured questionnaire was used. Forty diabetic patients were interviewed to know their knowledge attitude and practices about diabetes. All data was entered into SPSS version 10.0. The data was re-validated and analyzed. Results: Mean age of study participants was 45.35 ± 13.05 years, 11(27.5%) were male and 29(72.5%) were female. The mean BMI of the study participants was 27.06±6.29 kg/m². Majority of the patients 27(67.5%) had type 2 diabetes. The mean fasting blood sugar was 159±73.89 mg/dl and random blood sugar was 200±91.2 mg/dl, 50% of the patients were using antidiabetic drugs regularly and only 15% of the patients were regularly monitoring their blood glucose at home using a glucometer. Awareness level of the study participants was low. Conclusion: The awareness about the disease in majority of diabetic patients was not adequate in this study. Routine individual teaching and counseling represents an effective educational model.