A comparison of knowledge of diabetes mellitus between patients with diabetes and healthy adults: a survey from north Malaysia.
OBJECTIVE
The primary objective of this study was to assess and compare the knowledge of diabetes mellitus possessed by patients with diabetes and healthy adult volunteers in Penang, Malaysia.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted from 20 February 2006 to 31 March 2006. We randomly selected 120 patients with diabetes mellitus from a diabetic clinic at the General Hospital Penang, Malaysia and 120 healthy adults at a shopping complex in Penang. Each participant was interviewed face-to-face by a pharmacist using a validated questionnaire, and they were required to answer a total of 30 questions concerning knowledge about diabetes mellitus using Yes, No or Unsure as the only response.


RESULTS
The results showed that patients with diabetes mellitus were significantly more knowledgeable than the healthy volunteers about risk factors, symptoms, chronic complications, treatment and self-management, and monitoring parameters. Educational level was the best predictive factor for diabetes mellitus and public awareness.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge about diabetes mellitus should be improved among the general population.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has major implications for the design of an educational programme for diabetics and a health promotion programme as a primary prevention measure for the healthy population in general, and especially for those at high risk. The results could be useful in the design of future studies for evaluating patients' and the general public's knowledge about diabetes mellitus.
Yun
Lai Shin
LS
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
Hassan
Yahaya
Y
Aziz
Noorizan Abd
NA
Awaisu
Ahmed
A
Ghazali
Rozina
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D016903:Drug Monitoring; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012307:Risk Factors; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires