Satish Kumar1
BACKGROUND
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is common in the Indian population and awareness
regarding the disease and its complications is low among the patients with
diabetes. There is lack of studies regarding awareness of complications of diabetes
among type 2 diabetic patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the
awareness of diabetic complications among type 2 diabetic patients.
METHODS
This is an institutional based observational study. The sample comprised of 150
adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who underwent treatment in the
Department of Medicine, Medical College Kottayam and the patient’s age ranged
from 18 - 77 years.
RESULTS
Majority of patients were in the age group 38 to 57 and the sample comprised of
56 % males and 44 % female patients. Out of 150 patients involved in the study,
120 patients (80 %) were aware of the complications of diabetes mellitus. Among
the male patients, 70 (83.33 %) and among females, 50 (75.75 %) were aware
of the complications in diabetes. In the study sample, 92 (61.33 %) were aware
of the foot problems, 120 patients (80 %) were aware of renal complications, 91
patients were aware regarding eye problems of diabetes, 38 (25.33 %) regarding
development of hypertension, 62 (41.33 %) regarding heart attack, 42 (28 %)
patients were aware regarding development of stroke and 78 patients (52 %) had
awareness regarding occurrence of recurrent infections.
CONCLUSIONS
Awareness regarding diabetes and its complications is fairly good among the
diabetic patients in Kerala. Awareness regarding all complications of diabetes was
higher among males than females. Providing awareness to type 2 diabetic patients
by various educational programs may be of further help to prevent complications
and to decrease the mortality and morbidity in type 2 diabetes patients.
