Survey of awareness of diabetes mellitus (Type-2) among Muzaffarpur Population, Bihar

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is reported as one of the hazardous diseases rising at a very fast rate. One of the major reasons behind this is the lack of knowledge and awareness among the people. Increase in knowledge and complications regarding diabetes among people expected to have a better outcome of the disease. This study was planned to assess the awareness about diabetes. Methods: This study was conducted in the urban area of Muzaffarpur city located in Bihar. This study was a community-based cross-sectional study and includes 600 participants randomly selected from different age groups. Demographic data and knowledge of participants on various aspects of DM were collected by a well-prepared questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Result: It was found that 39.83% of participants had knowledge of DM. Only 9% of subjects were graduate or highly educated. This percentage reflects the low prevalence of diabetic knowledge in society. Only 10.67% knew that DM was caused by insufficient insulin. 73.67% of respondents did not know any DM symptoms. 61% of respondents did not know how this disease can be prevented. 88.33% of respondents did not have any idea about the complication of DM. Conclusion: This study indicated that awareness about diabetes was very poor, especially in subjects with low education. The study concluded that there is an urgent requirement of different strategies like diabetic health campaigns, issuing pamphlets of information about DM, public speaking sessions, etc to spread awareness among the general population.