University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine; Department of Emergency Medicine, 1200 North State Street, Room 1011, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Ethn Dis. 2011 Winter;21(1):1-6.
To describe the baseline level of disease-specific knowledge in predominantly Latino patients with diabetes and in their family caregivers at an urban emergency department, and to elucidate characteristics which are associated with increased diabetes knowledge.
The 24-item Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ) was administered to a convenience sample of 291 primarily Latino adults in the emergency department who either had diabetes or who identified themselves as a caregiver for an immediate family member with diabetes. Participants with diabetes provided additional information on specific characteristics hypothesized to be associated with level of diabetes knowledge.
Patients with diabetes received higher scores on the DKQ than their family caregivers (13.9 vs 12.3, P < .01). On univariate analysis self-monitoring of blood glucose, English language preference, longer time since diagnosis, and education at the high school level or above were associated with higher scores. However, on multivariate analysis only years since diagnosis and education reached statistical significance. The most frequently missed questions involved diet, signs of high/low blood sugar, organ function, and wound care.
Diabetes-specific knowledge was poor in both patients and primary family caregivers in our largely Latino urban emergency department patient population, highlighting the need for increased education in non-traditional settings. Based on our findings, this education should focus on areas of severe knowledge deficit including diet, symptoms of hyper- and hypoglycemia, and wound care. This study provides the foundation and justification for constructing effective and focused emergency department-based educational materials, thereby improving the knowledge and health of our patients.
描述在城市急诊部以拉丁裔为主的糖尿病患者及其家庭护理者的疾病特异性知识的基线水平，并阐明与糖尿病知识增加相关的特征。
对 291 名主要为拉丁裔的急诊部成年人进行了 24 项糖尿病知识问卷（DKQ）的便利抽样调查，这些成年人要么患有糖尿病，要么自称是糖尿病直系亲属的护理者。患有糖尿病的参与者提供了与假设与糖尿病知识水平相关的特定特征的其他信息。
糖尿病患者的 DKQ 得分高于其家庭护理者（13.9 对 12.3，P <.01）。在单因素分析中，自我监测血糖、英语偏好、诊断后时间较长以及高中以上学历与较高分数相关。然而，在多因素分析中，只有诊断后时间和教育程度达到统计学意义。最常答错的问题涉及饮食、高/低血糖的迹象、器官功能和伤口护理。
在我们以拉丁裔为主的城市急诊部患者群体中，患者和主要家庭护理者的糖尿病特异性知识都很差，这突出表明需要在非传统环境中增加教育。基于我们的发现，这种教育应侧重于严重知识缺陷领域，包括饮食、高血糖和低血糖症状以及伤口护理。本研究为构建有效的、有针对性的基于急诊部的教育材料提供了基础和依据，从而提高了我们患者的知识和健康水平。
