Assess the knowledge, attitude and practice about self-insulin administration among insulin receiving diabetic patients attending all medical clinics in Teaching Hospital Batticaloa.

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder of multiple etiology. It is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with abnormality of fat, carbohydrate, and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. It is a public health problem as the disease is epidemic in both developing & developed counties. DM is recognized as one of the leading causes of premature illness, death, and disability globally. Insulin is one of the oldest valuable antidiabetic medications to be had and additionally the maximum effective agent in dropping hyperglycemia when used in suitable doses. Insulin injection technique is one of the most common areas where errors are likely. It requires a solid knowledge and attitude towards self-administration of insulin by patients so that they can make a meaningful contribution to managing their lives. The objective is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice on self -insulin administration among diabetic patients attending all medical clinics at Teaching Hospital Batticaloa. A descriptive study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices on self-insulin administration among 162 insulin receiving diabetic patients attending medical clinic at Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa. Simple random sampling method was employed to recruit participants. After obtaining informed consent, data were collected through validated and interviewer administered questionnaire. Statistical package of Social Sciences version-26 was used for analysing the data for obtaining frequencies and percentages using descriptive statistics. In our study population (48.1%) has moderate knowledge and around similar percentage (41.4%) of population has poor knowledge. However only 10.5% has good knowledge regarding self-insulin administration. And more than 50% towards the unfavourable side. And collectively for neutral and favourable percentage is nearly 50%. Overall practice of the study population (54.9%) more than half of participants has moderate practice on self-insulin administration. 29% of population has poor practice and only 16% has good practice regarding self-insulin administration. The findings reveal that approximately half of the respondents had inadequate awareness on self-insulin administration as well as more than half of the participants had unfavourable attitude regarding self-insulin usage. Good practices towards preventing CKD were found in an optimal level. Practices on the areas such as regular exercise and annual check-ups should be improved in this population. More than half of participants has moderate practice on self-insulin administration and comparatively study participants had better practice than their knowledge and attitude. The study findings reveal that there is weak positive relationship between knowledge, attitude and practice of self-administration of insulin.