Abstract

ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND AWARENESS OF DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS

*Rohan Sachdev, Dr. Sartaj Singh Wazir, Dr. Kriti Garg and Dr. Garima Singh

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and awareness of patients with diabetes mellitus, their oral hygiene practices, and the sources of information about their oral health in Kanpur, India. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in the duration of 6 months and involved 488 patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, undergoing treatment to which a questionnaire was distributed. The resulting data were evaluated using statistical software and the frequency of distribution was calculated, followed by the percentage. Results: The knowledge of diabetics about their increased risk for oral diseases, dryness of mouth (25.00%) & soreness of mouth (4.91%) was low when compared with their knowledge about the systemic complications, eye disease (35.04%) and heart disease (8.04%) associated with diabetes. Regarding participants' sources of information about their oral health, majority of the participants had received the information from their dentist (51.79%). Conclusions: The results of this study show decreased awareness of diabetic patients about their increased risk for oral diseases. The health care providers should play an important role in educating the patients who would help in minimizing the complications and, thus, improve their overall health and quality of life.

Keywords: Awareness, attitude, diabetes, knowledge, oral health.