[Public awareness of diabetes mellitus in Ahvaz]

ABSTRACT

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most important chronic diseases which is substantially increasing in the world especially in developing countries. Nowadays changes in life style, inadequate diabetic habits, sedentary life and obesity are among the most significant causes of type 2 diabetes. Increase in general population knowledge can greatly reduce the expansion of the disease and progression of its complications. The aim of the present study was determine population knowledge of diabetes mellitus in Ahvaz. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study on 400 visitors of Simorgh exhibition of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences which was held during the 10 days of Fajr in 2009 were the subjects of this study. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed by chi-square test with SPSS. The awareness of diabetes amont Ahvazians was good in 36.8%, at intermediate level in 44.2% and weak in 19% of the subjects of the study. Average age of participants was 31years.Women's knowledge was more than men [P<0.001]. Married persons had more knowledge than unmarried [P<0.001]. With increasing in education level, knowledge on diabetes also increased. Housewives and official clerks had more knowledge than others. The presence of diabetic patients augmented the knowledge of other members of the family. Friends, acquaintances and relatives were the main source of information and the other sources, in descending order, were magazines and books, radio and TV and physicians. The results of this study suggest that the overall population's knowledge on diabetes is at an intermediate level. We conclude that although the population knowledge on diabetes is in an intermediate level, removing two factors of increasing age and presence of diabetic patients in the family from the study yields in an intensely reduced knowledge and thus it is required to get knowledge on diabetes from lower ages