Correlation of awareness of the disease with glycaemic control and diabetic complications among patients attending a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction. The awareness level among diabetic patients varies across patient population based on many factors such as differences in the literacy of the study population, socioeconomic status, availability of diabetes education. Hence, it is important to study the same in our set-up to plan appropriate preven- tive strategies. The present research work attempted to assess the awareness level about diabetes and its complications among diabetic patients attending a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and methods. This is a hospital based, cross- sectional study, done in diabetic patients attending a tertiary care teaching hospital in South India. The awareness level of the patient was assessed using a pretested questionnaire. The questionnaire had 25 questions (knowledge — 18, attitude — 4 and prac- tice — 3) and each correct answer was given a score of ‘one’ and each wrong answer was given a score of ‘zero’. Patients were assessed clinically for the presence of micro and macrovascular complications and basic investigations were carried out. Metabolic control is assessed by HbA1c level. Results. A total of 150 patients were included in the study. Approx. 52.6% of patients scored between 14 and 18 (sufficient awareness), 6.6% of patients had satisfactory awareness (KAP score 19–20) and 4% of patients had highly satisfactory awareness (KAP score > 20). Only eight patients had a score less than 10 (highly insufficient awareness) and 31.3% had insufficient awareness (KAP score 10–13). A positive correlation between educational qualification and awareness level was observed (r = 0.495, p < 0.001). Mean awareness score of patients who received diabetes education from physician and dietitian was significantly high when compared to other sources of patient education. Mean awareness scores were lower for those with various diabetic complications. There is a statistically signifi- cant negative correlation observed between awareness and HbA1c values (r = 0.527, p < 0.001). Conclusion. Majority of the patients had sufficient awareness about the disease and about one-third of the patients had insufficient awareness about diabetes. The awareness level of the patients about the disease had a strong influence on the metabolic control, diabetic complications and also correlated with their educational status.