THE ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES REGARDING DIET AND EXERCISE AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS IN DERNA, LIBYA

Saria M. Arhaim, Raga A. Elzahaf*, Radya Zaatout and Hamid Elnourain Hamdan

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is one of the prevalent chronic diseases that can be managed by life style modification. Disease can be controlled effectively by providing proper knowledge and awareness regarding disease. The lack of knowledge among the patients has been regarded as the major factor in disease propagation. The present study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of type II diabetic patients. Objective: to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of type II diabetic patients attending governmental diabetes care unit in Derna city, Libya. Methodology: A cross- sectional study design was to conduct. Respondents were type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending governmental diabetes care unit for regular follow-ups from May to July 2017. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS. Results: Among 80 patients 43 were male and 37 were female. Diabetes was more prevalent among people age of 35 to 75 years. Most of the patients had positive family history of Diabetes (60%). Majority of the patients had inadequate knowledge about disease (88.8%). 42.5% of patients had bad attitude. Only 4 (5.0%) of patients had good practices towards disease. Malepatients reported higher percentage of level of knowledge than female (X2= 5.037, P= 0.026). Conclusion: The study shows that knowledge, attitude and practices of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending governmental diabetes care unit about the diet and exercises are generally low. The study shows that male patients reported higher knowledge percentage than females (18.6% and 2.7%, respectively, p=0.026). There is no significant relation between attitude and practice and their personal characteristics.

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