Valdés RE, Castillo OY, Cedeño RY

Language: Spanish
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ABSTRACT

Objective: to assess the extent of knowledge about diabetes mellitus of patients before and after an educational intervention in the form of a basic information course about this illness. Methods: a descriptive study was conducted in 311 diabetic patients admitted to the Center of Care for Diabetes in Bayamo, Granma province, from July 2010 through June 2011. The knowledge about this disease was evaluated through a duly validated questionnaire to be answered at the beginning and at the end of the educational intervention. Results: at the beginning of the course, 301 (96.8 %) patients knew poorly their disease, whereas at the end, just 21 (6.8 %) showed the same condition. The patients who did not manage to acquire enough pieces of knowledge to control over their disease presented longer time of evolution, higher number of microvascular and macrovascular complications and older age than those who did it. The low level of knowledge about diabetes was also related to rural origin and low schooling. Conclusions: knowledge about diabetes mellitus of sick persons in this territory was poor. Therefore, an educational intervention is needed to make the patients better understand their disease; additionally, the comprehensive health care areas and the doctor's offices in the territory must provide this type of courses to a larger quantity of diabetics according to the characteristics and requirements of the participating group.