Knowledge, attitude and practices regarding diabetes management and complications among Type 2 Diabetic patients

Introduction: Diabetes initially causes generalized or nonspecific symptoms that are often unimportant. Patients require healthcare attention to reduce the comorbidities that may develop in future. Since diabetes is prevalent in India, there is a National Programme for Diabetes that provides free diagnostics, drugs, and health promotion through behavior change, but patients still develop complications. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess participants' awareness of the diabetic diet,foot care, regular eye checkup, and complications of diabetes, as well as adherence to a diabetic diet, physical exercises, drug therapy, and timely follow-ups. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 156 Diabetic individuals who had at least three previous visits to the Non-Communicable Disease clinic. Seriously ill patients were excluded. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used. The data collected was documented in MS Excel and analyzed using Epi Info v7.2.5. Results: Of the 156 participants, the mean age was 57.1 years, and 48.7% had diabetes for > 5 years. Almost 85.9% of participants had low awareness of self-care and complications. Half (49.4%) of the participants had lightheadedness as their initial reason that led to the investigation of diabetes, and 14.1% were diagnosed during regular check-ups. About 39.1% of participants did regular physical exercises, and 32.7% followed the diabetic diet. About 45.5% and 73.1% of the participants were overweight and had hypertension, respectively. About 36.5% missed one or two doses of medication, and 19.2% had changed medication dosage on their own. About 78.9% made their follow-up visits on the recommended dates. Conclusion: Most participants' adherence to drug therapy and timely follow-up was high. But the participants had low awareness of self-care and complications, as well as low adherence to diet and exercise. This highlights the need to improve healthcare attention among people with diabetes.