The ATONE study - assessment of diabetes knowledge in individuals with type 2 diabetes in the Pakistani population.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate knowledge of diabetes using diabetes knowledge questionnaire in diabetic patients.

METHODS

The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan, from October to December 2017, and comprised subjects aged >20 years with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. The modified version of diabetes knowledge questionnaire was used for data collection. It had 24 questions concerning patient's diabetes knowledge and self-care practices. One point was given for each correct answer. The highest achievable score was 24. A total score of ?12 was considered suggestive of adequate knowledge. SPSS 23 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Of the 401 subjects, 175 (43.6%) were males and 226 (66.4%) were females. The overall mean age was 52.9 }12.3 years, and mean duration of diabetes was 7.95}6.7 years. The mean score on the questionnaire was 9.97}3.93. Only 135(33.7%) patients showed adequate knowledge of the disease. Factors having positive correlation with the score were patient's urban background, level of literacy and their socioeconomic status (p<0.05 each). The duration of diabetes and the control of diabetes had no influence on the scores (p>0.05 each).

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge about diabetes was found to be generally poor among diabetics.