Prevalence, Knowledge, and factors affecting the care of Diabetes mellitus among adults in Egor L.G.A, Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disorder of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism characterized by high blood glucose levels, which could be a result of relative lack of, or insensitivity to insulin or both. Objective: To assess the prevalence, knowledge, risk factors and factors affecting the care of Diabetes mellitus among adults in Egor Local Government Area (LGA), Edo State. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 400 adults using a multi-stage sampling technique. Pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaires were tools for data collection. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 20.0 software. Bivariate analysis was done using the Chi-squared test. The level of significance was set at p-value<0.05 Results: The mean age of the respondents was 43(±14.5). Knowledge of DM was poor in 152 (53.9%),73 (25.9%) respondents had fair knowledge while 57 (20.2%) respondents had good knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Consumption of diet high in carbohydrate 272 (68.0%) and low level of physical activity 239 (58.0%) were identified as the major risk factors in this study. The prevalence of Diabetes was 4.0%. The high cost of treatment 35 (46.7%) and poor adherence to medication 7 (9.3%) were the major factors affecting the care of DM. Conclusion: The knowledge of Diabetes among the respondents was poor and the prevalence of Diabetes among respondents was 4.0%. Community-based health education on diabetes mellitus is required to help improve knowledge of Diabetes.