Level of knowledge of patients with type II diabetes mellitus in primary care

A personal interview to 148 patients was carried out with the aim of getting to know the level of information of type II diabetic patients at an Urban Health Center in Santander. A validated questionnaire made up of 14 questions on general aspects of diabetis, dietetic habits and capability to handle complications was used. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of questionnaire was 0.69. The correct answer average was 6.3 (IC = 5.9-6.5). Patients were best informed about general aspects and had much less information with regard to the handling of complications and to their diet. The differences among these three sections of questions were significative (p less than 0.001). The patients under diet treatment obtained worse results than those treated with oral hipoglucemiants and insulin. Our results are worse than those reported by other similar populations at a national level. Also, and due to the differences in knowledge within this group, we believe that the establishment of groups and subgroups when educating diabetic patients is possible and also highly recommended.