Knowledge of Diabetes among Rural High School Children of Mandya

Abstract

Background and objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most commonly encountered diseases by the healthcare professionals. Knowledge about diabetes can assist in early detection and can reduce the incidence of complication. The present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of rural school children regarding diabetes mellitus and to identify the areas of gap in the knowledge of diabetes among these children. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional questionnaire based study was conducted. Pretested questionnaire was used to assess the gap in knowledge of diabetes. The questionnaire was administered to all the high school children who consented, from the schools in and around B G Nagara. Data was tabulated and analysed using excel sheet. Results: A total of 302 students participated in the study. In this study, high school children had "General knowledge about diabetes" scores of 54.3%, "Knowledge of life style and non-medical measures" scores of 50.33%, "Knowledge of clinical symptoms and complications" scores of 47.35%, and "Knowledge of monitoring and treatment of diabetes" scores of 22.18%. Conclusion: The high school children in this study had fair awareness of diabetes in certain aspects, even though there were many gaps in other areas of knowledge. The awareness of high school children about the disease can be of great help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and its related complications in future.