Knowledge,attitude and practice (KAP) survey of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: a good knowledge of disease management is necessary in promoting care and enhancing good therapeutic outcomes. diabetes mellitus is a major health problem in pakistan with individual,social and economical consequences. knowledge,attitude and practice surveys are effective in providing baseline for evaluating intervention programs. aim: to assess the knowledge,attitude and practice of diabetics and its co-morbidities in pakistani population. methods: this descriptive,cross-sectional survey was comprised 250 patients and conducted in the endocrine & diabetes clinic,department of medicine,shaikh zayed hospital lahore from 1st june 2013 to 31st december 2013. patients aged 40-70,either sex were included. patients who have type i diabetes mellitus were excluded. participants underwent a knowledge,attitude and practice (kap) questionnaire survey regarding assessing diabetes,socio-demographics,associated medical conditions & self care. results: there were 85 (34%) males and 165 (66%) were females. the mean age of the patients was 52.40±6.62 years and mean duration of diabetes was 12.22±3.81 years. among the study subjects,the levels of knowledge were low in 46%,medium in 39% and high in 63%. the levels of attitude were also described accordingly as low 8%,medium 32% and high 60%. the levels of practice of study subjects were found to be low in 78%,medium in 15% and high in 7%. conclusion: results revealed good attitude but poor knowledge and practices (behaviour) towards diabetes. we concluded that there is a need for structured community programs to improve attitude and practices of diabetic patients to promote better compliance towards diet,exercise and drug regimen to prevent from complications related to diabetes.