Knowledge and practices on diabetic care among the caregivers of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background:  Diabetes mellitus care in children requires parental support and involvement as young children cannot independently handle all of their diabetes cares; the diabetic cares given to these children entirely depend on the knowledge and skills of the care givers.   This study was conducted to determine the knowledge and practices on diabetic care and associated factors among the caregivers of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus attending the follow-up clinic at Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia.

Methods: Institution-based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from July 10 to October 10, 2022. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using statistical packages for social sciences software Version 25.0. Bivariate and stepwise multivariate analysis was performed to test associations between the dependent and independent variables. 

Results: One hundred fifty-eight caregivers of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus participated in the study; over half of the participants (93, 58.9%) were females. Over half of caregivers have a poor level of knowledge (56.3%) and practice (58.6%) about diabetes cares. Participants residing in the urban area are found to have better knowledge (p<0.001; 95%CI:1.81-6.86), whereas being female caregiver (p=0.03; 95%CI:1.04-4.22), attending diabetic education sessions (p=0.035; 95%CI:1.17-79.66) and, those who had good diabetes knowledge  (p=0.04; 95%CI:1.03-4.04 ) were found to have a better practice.

Conclusion: The knowledge and practices of caregivers regarding diabetic care among caregivers of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus were found to be low. Structured diabetes care education should be given to all caregivers to improve their knowledge and practices.