Assessment of patients knowledge and attitude towards diabetes and its relationship with glycemic control: a cross-sectional study in a Nigerian tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND: It is postulated that increased knowledge of patients about diabetes as well as a positive attitude will lead to improved glycaemic control and better outcome. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of diabetic patients in a tertiary hospital in Enugu and the relationship with their glycaemic control.METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done using a structured questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic data and assess knowledge and attitude to diabetes on consecutive patients attending the outpatient clinic in a tertiary hospital. Responses were scored with equal weighting. The fasting blood glucose of the patients was measured and recorded.RESULT: There were 51(60.7%) females and 33 (39.3%) males, with majority (63.1%) in the age range 41 -64 years and 32(38.1%) had only primary education. The mean knowledge score was 6.19 ± 2.08 and 33(39.3%) demonstrated good knowledge. Knowledge did not differ between males and females (p=0.34), but was highest in those with tertiary education (p = 0.02). Positive attitude to the condition was recorded in 63(75%) subjects. There was poor correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = -0.161, p= 0.14). Those with good knowledge scores were 2 times more likely to have good glycaemic control compared with those with poor knowledge; OR = 2.015, p = 0.02. Therewas no significant difference between the glycemic control of those with good attitude and those with poor attitude (p= 0.08).CONCLUSION: Although overall knowledge was poor, patients had a good attitude to their illness. Knowledge, but not attitude was significantly positively associated with glycemic control

Self blood glucose monitoring among diabetic patients in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Self blood glucose monitoring (SBGM) is important in the management of people living with diabetes. This study set out to evaluate the knowledge and practice of SBGM in diabetic patients at our clinic in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Ninety (90) diabetic patients attending the clinic were assessed with self-administered questionnaires. There were 36 (40%) males and 54 (60%) females with a mean age of 54±23 years, and a mean duration of diabetes of 8 years. Eighty-one (90%) had type 2 diabetes while nine (10%) had type 1 diabetes. Eighteen type 2 patients (20%) were on insulin alone, 52 (58%) on oral drugs, and 20 (22%) were on a combination. Fifty-two patients knew only about using glucose meters for SBGM, 30 knew about using both meters and urine dipsticks, and 4 did not know of any method. Only 24 (27%) patients had glucose meters and no type 1 patient had a meter. The highest frequency of monitoring was once daily in six patients. None of the patients practised urine monitoring. In conclusion, this study has shown that the practice of SBGM in our patients is inadequate despite reasonable knowledge of the technique. This is most likely due to scarce resources. The importance of SBGM should be emphasised more in our practice, especially in patients with type 1 diabetes, and there should be motivation for improved self-monitoring resources