A comparative study on the knowledge, attitude and risk perception regarding complications of type-2 diabetes mellitus between male and female diabetic patients attending diabetic clinics in selected hospital of West Bengal, India

Diabetes, a major health problem has shaken quite a huge population of India. This present study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and risk perception regarding complications of Type-2 Diabetes mellitus between male and female Diabetic patients attending Diabetic Clinics of Medical College & Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal. Conceptual framework of the study was based on Health Belief Model. Comparative survey design was adopted for the study. 160 samples selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. The results revealed that 83.75% male & 82.50% female patients had average knowledge. Majority of respondents (58% male and 61% female ) had favourable attitude. Only 22.50% male and 30% female had good risk perception. There was statistically significant relationship between knowledge and attitude [rdf(158) = 0.202*], knowledge and risk perception [rdf(158) = 0.317*] & attitude and risk perception [rdf(158) = 0.23*] of diabetes complication at 0.05 level of significance. No significant difference was found between male and female diabetic patients regarding knowledge, attitude and risk perception. Significant association found between knowledge with education [ χ2df(1) =18.44*], and attitude with education [χ2df(1) =12.33*] and risk perception with duration of disease [χ2df(1) = 16.682*]. Hence the result emphasized on necessity of health education for improving the knowledge of diabetes patients so that they can develop favourable attitude and perceive the risk of diabetes complications.