Diabetes mellitus; awareness among individuals attending out patient department of Ghurki trust teaching hospital

ABSTRACT

To assess the awareness of diabetes in individuals attending Out Patient Department of Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital. Descriptive study design. Out Patients Department, Ghurki Teaching Hospital, Lahore. The study was conducted among a sample of 50 individuals, recruited by convenience sampling technique. Data was collected, by administering a structured questionnaire, during a two week period in December 2006. Data was presented in the form of tables and graphs. General Awareness of Diabetes Mellitus in the participants of our study was poor. Only 16% recognized it as a disease of the pancreas while 50% considered it to be a disease of other systems. Majority of the respondents [78%] had no idea about the types of the disease. When asked about the communicability of diabetes, 76% considered it to be non-communicable, 10% thought it to be communicable. Among the respondents, 78% thought diabetes is inheritable. When asked about its prevention, 54% considered avoiding sugar as the best way to prevent diabetes, while only 9% believed weight reduction to be important. Regarding the management of diabetes, 40% of respondents considered medication, 27% thought of diet modification as a better way, 18% considered exercise, while only 6% named weight reduction. The participants of the present study lacked awareness of types of diabetes, its mode of inheritance, its prevention and management