Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Tertiary Health Care Centre, Umuahia, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Knowledge and practice of people living with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) play an important role in determining the success of the overall disease management. Objective: This cross sectional study aimed to explore the level of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of people with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) regarding their food consumption. Methods: A total of 197diabetic patients attending a diabetic clinic in Nigeria successfully completed this study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The subjects’ ages were from 30 yrs and above. More than half of the subjects (52%) had tertiary education. Only 27% among this studied population had normal weight, 57% and 12.5% were overweight and obese respectively. KAP test showed that 57% had poor knowledge, while 56.6% and 51% had poor attitude and practices respectively. The relationship between KAP and nutritional status was not significant (P>0.05). This result indicated that the sub group with current normal BMI could consequently deteriorate in their nutritional status. Their food consumption pattern confirmed this poor KAP with irregular intake of fresh fruits and vegetable and restriction of starch staples on daily basis. Conclusion: This study provided an insight that diabetic patients have poor knowledge on dietary management which influenced their attitude and food consumption practices despite their educational background. Therefore, there is urgent need for diabetes education programs to improved and prolonged life span of diabetics.