Conference abstract

Diabetes knowledge and glycemic control among a Cameroonian population of patients with type 2 diabetes

Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2021:11(21).30 Jan 2021.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2021.11.21.1028
Archived on: 30 Jan 2021
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Keywords: Diabetes knowledge, glycemic control, Cameroon
Oral presentation

Diabetes knowledge and glycemic control among a Cameroonian population of patients with type 2 diabetes

Anne MO Boli1, Francky Teddy A Endomba1, Martine Claude Etoa1, 2, Mesmin Y Dehayem2, Eliane Ngassam2, Ariane Nkamgna2, Gaelle Lemdjo2, Andrea Omengue1, Eugene Sobngwi1,2,3

1Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, 2National Obesity Center, Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease Unit, Yaoundé Central Hospital, Cameroon, 3Biotechnology Centre, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon

&Corresponding author

Introduction: It is well known that the first step in the management of chronic illness especially cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, is the education and awareness of the patients. Thus several studies tried to assess the level of knowledge of type 2 diabetes patients and its impact on their glycemic control, and furthermore the development of chronic vascular complications. Nevertheless, the majority of these studies were not undertaken in an African setting. The aim of our work was to evaluate the level of diabetes knowledge in a Cameroonian population of patients with type 2 diabetes, and assess its association with glycemic control as reflected by glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).

Methods: A transversal descriptive study was conducted at the National Obesity Center of the Yaoundé Central Hospital from January 31St to April 1st 2017. Amongst the 78 patients initially enrolled, 13 were excluded due to lack of HbA1c results, thus giving a final sample size of 65. The knowledge on diabetes was assessed through the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ), which is made of 24 questions, each having 3 answers possibilities (Yes, No, Don´t know). Patients were later classified in bad (score between 0 and 5), insufficient (score between 6 and 11), average (score between 12 and 16) and good knowledge (score more than 16). Other data on the history of diabetes, the glycemic control and the chronic complications were collected. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS 20.0 software and the level of significance set at 5%.

Results: Sixty-five patients were included for the final analysis, with a mean age of 57.4 years (± 10.5), a sex ratio of 1.6 for the female (25 male and 40 female patients), and 61.5% with at least a secondary educational level. The mean duration of diabetes was 8.3 years (± 6.9) and 66.2% had associated hypertension. The mean HbA1c was 7.7% (± 2.3) and the mean total knowledge score was 14.8 (± 4). An average score was found for 49.2% of the patients and 13.8% of the study population was under the average score, mostly the elderly. There was no significant correlation between HbA1c and the total knowledge score and after multivariate analysis, no associations were found between the socio-demographic parameters including educational level and age, and the duration of diabetes, with the level of knowledge.

Conclusion: Cameroonian type 2 diabetes patients had good knowledge on diabetes, but better glycemic control can be achieved by the reinforcement of the educational therapy especially in elderly patients.