Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus among Students of a Public Secondary School in Southern Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus among Students.

Abstract

Background

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a condition that arises due to high levels of glucose in the blood because of a defect in insulin production or usage. The report shows an increasing prevalence of prediabetes and DM among adolescents and young adults in Nigeria. Compounding the problem is the reported low level of DM understanding among students in secondary schools in Delta State. This study investigated the knowledge of DM among students of Ogbe Secondary School Effurun, Delta State Nigeria.

Methodology

This was a school-based descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among 400 randomly selected students from junior secondary school one to senior secondary school two. A structured questionnaire comprising of two sections was used to collect the data. The collected data was analyzed and presented in frequency tables and charts while the Chi-Square test was used to analyze socio-demographic variables and knowledge of DM at a P<0.05 level of significance.

Results 

The mean age was 14.68±1.99 years and 260(65.0%) were females. A good number of the respondents 352(88.0%) have heard of DM. About one-third of the respondents, 120(33.0%) do not know what is DM while most 641(90.9%) could not mention any type of DM. Besides, the majority of the respondents do not know the causes of DM 324(45.5%), signs and symptoms of DM 403(55.7%), risk factors of DM 582(81.3%), and complications of poorly managed DM 603(85.2%). The overall knowledge of DM was 3.4%. Bivariate analysis shows a significant association between the class of the respondents and their knowledge of DM.

Conclusion and Recommendation

In conclusion, while the majority of the respondents have heard of diabetes mellitus, the majority demonstrated a poor understanding of DM. Therefore, the study recommends regular and continuous awareness creation of diabetes mellitus in secondary schools in Delta State and Nigeria.