Abstract

Background: Incidence of diabetes mellitus has been increasing in urban and rural areas of India and it will be one of the major causes of death in India in 21st century. Diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly in middle- and low-income countries. There is a very little data on the level of awareness and prevalence about diabetes in developing countries like India. Several studies have shown that there is a better patient’s compliance for treatment and decrease in complications associated with the disease by increasing the patient’s knowledge and awareness regarding the disease. With this background, the current study is planned to assess the level of awareness regarding various aspects of diabetes mellitus. Aim: To assess the level of awareness about diabetic symptoms in non-diabetic individuals and awareness about natural history, complications of diabetes in diabetic patients. Methods: 200 nondiabetic patients and 100 diabetic patients of age >18 years were enrolled for the study. Statistical Analysis: Percentage was calculated to look for awareness about diabetic symptoms among non-diabetic patients and for awareness of complications of diabetes among diabetic patients. Result: There is very least awareness about diabetic symptoms among non-diabetic patients and significant lack of awareness about diabetic complications among diabetic patients. Conclusion: Our study revealed a significant lack of knowledge and awareness about diabetes mellitus among non-diabetic and diabetic patients which underscores a need to improve our health policies and extend diabetic health programs in mass campaigns thoroughly to prevent dreadful consequences and complications of diabetes mellitus.