Diabetes Awareness and Risk Reduction Behaviors among Pre-Diabetic Patients in Busia County, Western Kenya
Publication Date
2021-01-30Author
Type
ArticleMetadata
Show full item recordCitation
Linnet N. Munyasia, Ayodo George, Fred Amimo and Sam W. Wafula, 2021. “Diabetes awareness and risk reduction behaviors among prediabetic patients in busia County, Western Kenya” International Journal of Development Research, 11, (01), 43719-43722.
Abstract/ Overview
One-third of people with pre-diabetic condition progress to type 2 diabetes within five years. However, with adequate knowledge on diabetes risk reduction behaviors, progression to diabetes can be controlled. We therefore recruited 220 suspected cases of pre-diabetic patients at Busia County Referral Hospital assessed their knowledge, and adaption of risk reduction behavior. A cross-sectional study design and a systematic sampling approach were used. The findings show that at the time of examination, only 42.7% (n=94) of the respondents were pre-diabetic, 38.6% (n=85) were diabetic and the rest had normal glucose level. Furthermore, only 66.8 % (n=147) and 28.1% (n= 61) had normal blood pressure reading and BMI status respectively. The majority of the respondents 60% (n=74) thought pre diabetes was caused by being overweight/obese. About 46% (n=57) thought the condition is inherited and 44 %(n=55) considered it to be due to physical inactivity. On risk reduction measures, 63.1% (n=65) adopted a proper diet, 38.8 %(n=40) engaged in physical activities and 18.5 % (n=19) loss weight. In addition, 13.6 %(n=14) attempted to stop alcohol/tobacco use and 8.7% (n=9) preferred regular check-up. Marital status, level of education and employment status were significantly associated with knowledge pre diabetes (p-value< 0.05). Our findings show that patients who were already pre-diabetic state had inadequate knowledge about risk reduction measures. The difference in knowledge about risk reduction behaviors between pre diabetics and the rest of the respondents was statistically significant (P-value< 0.05). We therefore recommend more health promotion efforts on risk reduction measures for those affected and unaffected within this populations and elsewhere.