An Epidemiological Study to Assess the Knowledge and Self Care Practices among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Residing in Rural Areas of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a major public health problem and is acknowledged as one of the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. So the present study was done with the objective of assessing the knowledge and self-care practices among diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients residing in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study for a period of 3 months (October 2014 – December 2014) was conducted among diagnosed Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus patients attending outreach camps. The study subjects were selected based on their suitability with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The total sample size was 143. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 19 software. Frequency distribution was calculated for all the socio-demographic variables. Results: Majority of the subjects, 76.2%, 67.1%, 87.4%, had correct knowledge with regards to role of diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol, respectively, in diabetes. 72% subjects had strict drug compliance while only 29.3% subjects followed a favourable physical exercise schedule. Conclusion: In conclusion, even though knowledge with regard to risk factors of type-2 diabetes mellitus was observed to be better among the patients, they were significantly lagging in terms of self-care practices in the same domains. Thus, there is a great need to provide periodic health education to the diagnosed patients so that this knowledge-application gap is narrowed down.