Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: In India, Diabetes is one of the fastest gaining diseases with potential epidemic of more than 62 million diabetic individuals currently diagnosed with the disease. Result of randomized control trial from Australia showed that knowledge of the risk factors of diabetes and motivation to life style change were powerful predictors of change in diet and exercise, and associated were with a significant reduction in body mass index, waist circumference and fasting blood glucose. Hence, we studied the knowledge and Attitude of diabetes patients about diabetes in Indian population. Materials & Methods: The present study was carried out all diabetic patients reporting to the general medicine department of the hospital in Lucknow, for treatment. Subish et al’s criteria was used for framing a questionnaire for diabetic patients. A total of 200 diabetic patients reporting from June 2014 to July 2015 were included in the study. The questionnaire of 22 questions were given to the patients and evaluated and each correct answer was given a score of ‘one’ and each wrong answer was given a score of ‘zero’. The structured patient profile form included parameters like age and gender, family history of diabetes, number of drugs prescribed, therapeutic category of the drugs prescribed, response to the knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire and their mean ± SD scores.  All the results were analyzed by SPSS software and evaluated for level of significance. Results: A total of 200 patients were included in the present study. Out of 200, 110 were males and rest were females (45%). Maximum number of patients were in the age group of 51-60 years (88) followed by 61-70 years. The mean age of the patients was 55.7 + 12.12 years. 2 patients had their parents affected by diabetes. For 170 patients, the family history was not available. For the present study population, a total of 690 drugs were prescribed. The commonest class of drugs prescribed were anti-diabetics. Conclusion: There exists a low level of knowledge and attitude among diabetic patients towards diabetes.
Key words: Attitude, Diabetes, Knowledge