Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to diabetes mellitus among diabetic patients with complications in Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.

Objective: To determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Methods: The cross-sectonal study was conducted at Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital, Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir, from March 26 to September 25, 2017, and comprised patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus who were enrolled using convenience sampling. Each participant completed a self-administered 35-item questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 23 to determine the correlations among variables.

Results: Of the 116 patients, 74(63.8%) were females, and the largest group 58(50%) was aged 51-70 years. Of the total, 111(95.6%) had heard about type 2 diabetes mellitus, 112(96.6%) had sought treatment after diagnosis, and 115(99.1%) had blood sugar tested within the preceding year. There was a positive correlation between knowledge and attitude (p=0.005), knowledge and practice (p<0.001), and attitude and practice (p<0.001). Knowledge, attitude and practice improved with increase in education (p>0.05).

Conclusions: The subjects had fair knowledge and good attitude toward type 2 diabetes mellitus, and they appeared willing to improve diabetic control. However, diabetes-related practice was found to be poor.