Knowledge of hypoglycemia by primary health care centers registered diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge of diabetic patients about symptoms of Hypoglycemia, and the variables that may be associated with that knowledge.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 1039 diabetic subjects, registered in the urban and rural primary health care centers of Makkah. The tool of data collection was a structured questionnaire. The parameters of the study were lack of knowledge about hypoglycemia measured as knowledge of individual symptoms; and the proportions of patients with poor knowledge score.

RESULTS: The frequency of lack of knowledge of symptoms of hypoglycemia was around 50% of subjects. Two-third of subjects had a poor knowledge score. Main variables significantly associated with poor knowledge score were male gender (P< 0.001), low education (P < 0.0001), non-compliance with treatment (P < 0.02), and lack of knowledge about hypoglycemia (P < 0.00001).

CONCLUSION: There is a need for health education of diabetic subjects about symptoms of hypoglycaemia, in order to deal with it in an effective way.