Evaluation of Knowledge and Attitude toward Diabetes among Adolescents with Diabetes Mellitus attending Diabetes and Endocrine Center in Babylon Governorate/ Iraq

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is a lifelong chronic condition that is becoming more common in both industrialized and developing countries. People who have diabetes are more likely than those who do not to experience a wide range of illnesses. Aim: to measure the knowledge and attitude among diabetic adolescents and find their relationship with socio-demographic features of patients, their families, clinical history, family history, and lifestyle features.  Patient and methods: a Cross -sectional study carried out at a diabetic and endocrine center included 300 Adolescents aged 13–19 years who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus by clinicians and attended the center from October first, 2023, to February first, 2024. The questionnaire included: - Socio-demographic features of the participants and their families, Knowledge about Diseases, attitude of the patient toward disease, SPSS version 26 was used to analyze data and a P value≤ 0.05 considered statistically significant.  Results: patients' mean knowledge and attitude scores were significantly higher for older age group patients, urban residence, higher level of education, older parents, family history of the disease, longer duration of disease and current smoking. (P< 0.05), high mean score of knowledge was found among those with retired fathers and older mothers. higher mean attitude score was found among engaged patients. Conclusion: The result of the present study showed about two-third of the participants had good knowledge scores while only half had good attitude score. older age, higher education, living in urban areas, lived with disease for more than 5 years, had a family history of disease and smoking are significant determinants of knowledge and attitude.