Caregivers’ knowledge and practice regarding hypoglycemia prevention in children with type one diabetes mellitus at Saint Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Achieving optimal glycemic control with a stringent preventive interventions targeting hypoglycemia is at the core of diabetic care. Caregivers for pediatric diabetic patients are the primary providers. Therefore, enabling them to have adequate knowledge  about hypoglycemia and its prevention is critical.

Objective: To assess the knowledge and practice of preventing hypoglycemia among caregivers for diabetic patients on follow-up at a  tertiary care at a pediatric endocrine clinic in Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on caregivers for children with type one diabetes patients attending follow-up visits at a  tertiary care with a pediatric endocrinology clinic in Ethiopia, from August 16 to October 10, 2021. We collected relevant data using  interviews and pretested questionnaire. We analyzed the collected data using statistical Package for Social Science Software.

Results:  From a total of 101 caregivers, 76.2 % were females, and 23.8% were males. 64.4 % had good knowledge about hypoglycemia. Among 19  caregivers whose child was less than four years old, 10 caregivers had a good practice and 9 had poor hypoglycemia practice and from 75  caregivers whose child was four years and above, 31 caregivers had a good practice and 44 had poor hypoglycemia prevention  practice. Overall, 43.6 % had good hypoglycemia prevention practices.

Conclusion: Caregiver's knowledge regarding hypoglycemia was  satisfactory, but the hypoglycemia prevention practice was poor. Therefore, education about hypoglycemia and its prevention practice  should be emphasized during the regular clinic follow-up.