Awareness and Knowledge about Diabetes Mellitus among Students at Al-Balqa' Applied University

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the level of awareness about diabetes mellitus amongst students at Al-Balqa′ Applied University in Al-Zarqa University College in Jordan. A structured questionnaire about the definition, causes and symptoms of DM was administered to college students of Bachelor degree of 4 specialties. The questionnaire comprised two sections about sociodemographics characteristics and general knowledge of diabetes. The response options were “yes, no or I do not know. The interpretation of scores was defined as poor if the correct answers were (<50%), fair if the correct answers were (51-80%) and good if the correct answers were (81-100%). A total of 240 students were enrolled for the study. There ages were between 18-25 years. About 33.75% of students know the definition of DM, 31.2% of them considered insulin deficiency in type 1 DM and 41.6% insulin dysfunction in type 2 DM. About 27.5% of all students could correctly identify the cut-off point of 126 mg/dl fasting plasma glucose as being diagnostic for DM. Insulin and diet therapy were identified as the most common method of management of type 1 DM in 27 % of the students. 79.2% of the students identified that Polyuria is the most common symptom of diabetes. There is poor of awareness of diabetes amongst college students especially students of the first year. More health education is needed to address these deficiencies in order to equip them with the knowledge to positively help their community to reduce the burden of DM on society.