Knowledge and practice about diabetes among adult diabetic patients in Erbil, Iraq

Background and objective: Successful management of diabetes requires high degree of patient participation; this can be achieved by providing diabetic person with the knowledge and skills to perform self care on a day-to-day basis. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of diabetic patients about diabetes in Erbil city. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out during the period of April 2011 to April 2012 at Shahid Layla Qasm health center for diabetic care in Erbil city. The study involved a convenience sample of 400 diabetic patients aged ≥ 18 years old, both male and female. A specially designed questionnaire was used for data collection, which included socio-demographic characteristic of patients and other questions related to knowledge and practice about diabetes. SPSS was used for data entry and analysis. Results: Out of 400 study subjects, 18 (4.5%) had good knowledge score, 209 (52.3%) had acceptable knowledge score, and 137 (43.3%) had poor knowledge score about the diabetes. A statistically significant association was found between knowledge levels and age of patients (P=0.02). This study also showed that, only 51 (12.8%) of patients had good practices, while 213 (53.3%) of them had acceptable practices and 136 (33.9%) had bad practices. A statistically significant association was found between practice levels with occupation (non manual skilled or semiskilled); (P value