ABSTRACT
@#Introduction: Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT1) is a tool to assess patients’ diabetes knowledge and lifestyle. It comprises two subscales: the DKT1-general and DKT1-insulin-use. This study aimed to translate the DKT1 into Arabic and tested its validity and reliability in the Saudi population. Methods: This single-centre, cross-sectional study examined diabetes-related knowledge and lifestyle of Saudi patients with diabetes who used anti-diabetic medication and/or insulin. The participants’ mean scores for the two subscales of DKT1 were compared according to their type and duration of diabetes, medication use, and levels of education. Internal consistency tests and factor analysis were applied to examine the reliability and validity of the subscales, respectively. Results: In total, 400 individuals with diabetes (mean age 43.8±16.1 years) were enrolled. Of these, 44.2% had type 1 diabetes, and 51% were men. The Arabic version of DKT1 received internal consistency scores with coefficient alpha (95% confidence interval) values of 0.541 (0.472–0.604) and 0.741 (0.699–0.785) for the DKT1-general and DKT1-insulin-use subscales, respectively. The validity test showed that the participants with type 1 diabetes attained marginally higher score in the DKT1-general subscale and significantly higher score in the DKT1-insulin-use subscale than those with type 2 diabetes. Additionally, the scores increased with higher levels of education and longer durations of the disorder. Conclusion: The Arabic translation of DKT1 is an acceptable tool which can be used to measure the effectiveness of diabetes education programmes and would help to identify patient’s education needs.