Adolescents’ knowledge and awareness of diabetes mellitus in Kuwait

Abstract

Background and aim: Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem in Kuwait. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness and the knowledge of diabetes in adolescent about the disease which, will be of a great help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and its complications.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was done to evaluate the general knowledge of diabetes. The survey was introduced randomly to the students of 30 secondary public and private schools in Kuwait. The questionnaire was divided into eight main sections, with each section focusing on different aspects of diabetes mellitus, namely General knowledge about diabetes, Knowledge of risk factors of diabetes, Knowledge of symptoms, Knowledge on complications, Knowledge about treatment and available medications, Knowledge about lifestyle and non-medical measures, Things diabetics should not do, and Knowledge of management of diabetes.

Results: A total of 4333 students contributed. The main score obtained by the students was 63.2% of the maximum total score. For ‘‘General knowledge about diabetes’’ section’s scores were 71.0%, ‘‘Knowledge of risk factors of diabetes’’ 63%, ‘‘Knowledge of symptoms and complications’’ 55.8%, ‘‘Knowledge about treatment and management’’ 62.7%, and ‘‘Knowledge of monitoring diabetes’’ 72.3%.

Conclusion: The students contributed in this study have good general information about diabetes except for a few areas. Our study will clarify these areas to help in designing educational programs to treat these deficiencies of knowledge about the disease and increase the awareness.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Kuwait; Secondary school; Students