title: Health information regarding diabetes mellitus reduces misconceptions and underestimation of consequences in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate self-assessed knowledge about diabetes mellitus, to assess determinants of health knowledge and to evaluate consequences of health knowledge on appraisal about consequences of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based computer-assisted web interview survey, supplemented with a paper-and-pencil survey via post.
  
  
  METHODS
  Representative sample of the general Austrian population aged 15 years and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Men (n 1935) and women (n 2065) with and without diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some 20.5% of men and 17.7% of women with diabetes, and 46.2% of men and 36.7% of women without diabetes, rated their knowledge about diabetes mellitus to be ‘very bad’ or ‘rather bad’. Individuals with diabetes and individuals with a family member with diabetes rated their information level more often as ‘very good’ or ‘rather good’, with adjusted OR (95% CI) of 1.7 (1.1, 2.8) and 2.1 (1.6, 2.7), respectively, in men and 2.7 (1.5, 4.8) and 2.7 (2.1, 3.5), respectively, in women. Additional significant influencing factors on diabetes knowledge were age and educational level in both sexes, and city size in men. Independent of personal diabetes status, diabetes knowledge was associated with a lower perception of restrictions on daily life of diabetes patients and with a lower probability of underestimating health consequences of diabetes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health knowledge is associated with fewer misconceptions and less underestimation of health consequences in individuals both with and without diabetes mellitus. Thus health information about diabetes is important on the individual level towards disease management as well as on the public health level towards disease prevention.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Social Medicine, Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Rooseveltplatz 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Dorner
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lackinger
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: K Viktoria
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rieder
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludvik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001317:Austria; D002947:Cities; D003625:Data Collection; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D004522:Educational Status; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010465:Perception; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult