Knowledge, attitude, practices, and associated factors about glycemic control among Diabetes Mellitus patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia due to absolute or relative insulin deficiency, and  it remains the fourthleading cause of death worldwide. Poor understanding of the disease could affect glycemic control, and result in preventable diabetic complications. Good knowledge,attitude, and practice of glycemic control are vital to increasing the quality of life and reducing complications and death.

Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of diabetic patients  regarding glycemic control. Three hundred sixty-one patients were enrolled using a systematic random sampling in a teaching hospital in  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Epi-data 3.2 was used for data entry and SPSS 26 used for data analysis, using descriptive and analytic statistics.  Binary logistic regression was used to identify associations between dependent and independent variables, with p-values <0.25  and <0.05 indicating statistical significance in bivariateand multivariable analysis, respectively.

Results: Nearly half (48.8%) of the respondents were male. Good practice was independently associated with male gender, who were 1.62  times more likely to havegood practice. However, those participants aged 18–35 years (72%) were less likely to have good practice  towards glycemic control, followed by the age group of 51–65 years (51%).

Conclusion: More than half of the respondents’ glycemic  control knowledge, attitude, and practice were associated with good practice. The young and middle-aged groupsshowed poor practice.  These findings corroborate the need to improve diabetic patients' glycemic control awareness, with a focus on females and young age  groups.