Student understanding of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND: An estimated 25.8 million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes, including seven million people who have the disease but are undiagnosed. These numbers indicate that education about diabetes is needed. METHODS: To evaluate university students' knowledge about diabetes (risk factors, signs and symptoms and complications) we utilized a survey. Specifically, we determined: (1) knowledge of type 2 diabetes; (2) if participants' academic field of study affected their knowledge of type 2 diabetes; (3) if participants who had a family member with type 2 diabetes had a greater knowledge of the disease; and (4) if age affected students' knowledge of the disease. RESULTS: A questionnaire was completed by 469 students from The University of South Dakota. Students' knowledge of type 2 diabetes was poor: 30.1 percent of the students scored higher than 70 percent (with only 6.8 percent of the students scoring higher than 80 percent). No significant differences in knowledge scores were found between students who pursued health-related fields of study versus students who did not. Participants who had a family member with type 2 diabetes had a greater knowledge of the disease and felt that they had a higher risk for getting the disease. Significant differences in knowledge were only found between the youngest and oldest age groups. CONCLUSIONS: USD students' knowledge of type 2 diabetes is limited. Solutions need to communicate the risk factors and severity of the disease. Possible ways for improving diabetes education is to include health fairs as well as to integrate diabetes modules into K-12 education courses.