Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards self-management among diabetic patients at Debre Tabor General Hospital chronic diseases follow-up clinic, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction Self-management in diabetic patients is vital to keep the illness under control and avert any long term complications. Effective management of diabetes is a difficult task without an adequate understanding of the existing level of knowledge, attitude, and practice related to self-management. Knowing the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards selfmanagement may help to provide information for health policy-makers to design and implement effective interventions to reduce diabetes-related morbidity and mortality. Objective To assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards self-management among patients with diabetes at Debre Tabor General Hospital chronic diseases follow up clinic. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to March 2016. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select 206 patients. A structured pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results More than half of the study participants 114 (55.3%) had poor knowledge about diabetic self-management. Poor attitude of diabetic self-management was detected among 109 (52.9%) of studied patients. Nearly two-thirds 136 (66.0%) of the study participants had poor practice towards self-management. Conclusion More than half of the participants had poor knowledge and attitude towards self-management and nearly two-thirds of them had poor practice. It is better to emphasize the importance of the patient as the key person in diabetic management. Keywords Knowledge . Attitude . Practice . Diabetic self-management . Diabetic patient