Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Barriers for Self-care among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Rural Tamil Nadu Jasmine Aliya1,*, Iyer Ramesh Harihara2 1Assisstant Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur, Chennai 2Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur, Chennai *Corresponding Author: Dr Aliya Jasmine, Assistant Professor, Dept of Community Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur-600125, Email: draliyajasmine@gmail.com
Online published on 13 November, 2019. Abstract Objective To assess the knowledge, attitude, practice and barriers for self-care among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending a rural health centre in Tamil Nadu. Methodology This was a part of a quasi-experimental study. Diabetes patients attending the rural health centre were included. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice and barriers against self-care. Results Most of the study participants had good (76.6%) or moderate knowledge (6.5%). Attitude (96.1%) and practice (85.7%) towards the disease was poor. The most commonly reported barrier for self-care was either lack of awareness or lack of time. Conclusion Improved self-care practices will minimize morbidity and mortality associated with Diabetes. This study has highlighted lack of awareness as a major barrier for self-care. This has to be addressed by improving health literacy in the community. Developing Behavioural Change Communication programmes need to be developed to address poor awareness in both clinical and community settings. Top Keywords Attitude, barriers, Diabetes, knowledge, practice, self-care. Top |