Assessment of Knowledge of Diabetes, its Treatment and Complications Amongst Adult Diabetic Out patients in selected Health Institutions of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a clinical syndrome comprising a heterogeneous group of metabolic diseases that are characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and disturbances in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism secondary to defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. The findings of the study will help in identifying knowledge gap among diabetes patients. Objective: To determine the level of knowledge of diabetes, its treatment, complication and factors associated with adult diabetic patients attending in selected health facilities in Addis Ababa. Methodology: Facility based cross sectional study design was used among diabetic patients attending health facilities in Addis Ababa. The study was supplemented by qualitative method. The calculated sample size was 356. For calculation of mean knowledge score of diabetes; the correct answer was given one point, while incorrect and unsure answers were given zero. The interpretation of scores was performed by a Delphi panel of experts (A Survey of Knowledge on Diabetes in the Central Region of Thailand) and defined as poor (<50%), fair (50–80%), and good (>80%). Results: Three hundred twenty five DM patients participated in the quantitative study making the response rate at 91.3%. Mean age of respondents was 44.2 years (SD 15.5), with 52.9% being female. With a score range of 0 to 54, the mean (%) score of the respondents was 28.8 (54.4%) (SD11.4). Data showed that having high education seems to have positive effect on increasing knowledge about DM and those who are Amhara in ethnicity were nearly 2.4 times to have good knowledge (OR2.6; 95% CI 1.12 to 5.23). In addition data showed that, those who knew their last FBS level and patients who had glucometer were more likely to have good knowledge about DM. In qualitative study knowledge about diabetes was poor especially due to socio-cultural beliefs, personal etiology, communication barrier and by being self-oriented. Conclusion: In conclusion, knowledge about DM throughout the study was fair; these were ...