Knowledge and Perception about Diabetes and its Risk Factors

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder that increases the risks of developing other diseases in diabetic patients and can affect their quality of life. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine knowledge and perception of risk of diabetes mellitus among the public in Saudi Arabia. Methodology: The survey in the present cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the public knowledge and perception of risk of diabetes mellitus using a validated survey. The survey was converted to an online form using Google Forms. Results: About 79.69% of the respondents use one or more medication and 70.31% of them had at least one chronic disease. About 34.37 % of the respondents were overweight respondents or had obesity. About 93.75% of the respondents said that they know the main risk factors and the protective factors of diabetes. More than 90 % of them have a good knowledge about diabetes and about antidiabetic drugs but more than 54% of them said that they need additional information about diabetes and about antidiabetic medications. Conclusion: Our study suggests that more efforts should be made to increase the public knowledge about diabetes and an awareness program including lectures, workshops are essential to avoid getting diabetes among the public and to maintain good glycemic control among diabetic patients.