Lourdes C. Carrillo-Alarcón, Erika López-López, Mario J. López-Carbajal, Mario I. Ortiz, Héctor A. Ponce-Monter, Eduardo Fernández-Martinez and Moisés Ocampo-Torres
Objective: To identify the level of knowledge of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in patients assigned to the of diabetes clinics of the Health Services of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico and its relationship with the glycemic level and stages of grief according to Kübler- Ross. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 275 patients with T2DM from the Diabetes Clinics of the Health Services of Hidalgo that belong to the Mutual Help Group (GAM, for its initials in Spanish). The patients were given the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ 24); later a fasting venous blood glucose sample was taken and an interview (analysis of content) performed in order to identify their stage of grief. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, the chi square test, and odds ratio were used. Results: Of the total, 74.2% were women, 37.4% were illiterate and 27.1% had an elementary level education; mean age was 59 ± 11.3 years; 71.6% were housewives; the mean time of evolution of T2DM was 10.4 ± 6.8 years. The mean glycemic level was 162.4 ± 74.5 mg/dl. The score of the DKQ 24 was basic knowledge 5.4 ± 1.9, glycemic control 5.4 ± 2.4, complications 7.1 ± .5 and global 5.9 ± 1.5. It was observed that 80.6% did not identify symptoms of hypoglycaemia and 50.3% of hyperglycemia; 90.3% of patients did not know vasculopathy prevention measures. Those who were in acceptance had better control of their glycemic levels than those who were in depression or denial (P<0.05). Conclusion: The level of knowledge of diabetic patients regarding their disease was low. Because of these results it is important to evaluate the subject