Assessment of knowledge and practice of diabetic patients towards insulin therapy

Afrah A.  Awad Elkarim; Mahmoud M. E. Mudawi; E. M. A. Elmahdi; Aimun A. E. Ahmed

Authors

Afrah A. Awad Elkarim Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan
Mahmoud M. E. Mudawi Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan and Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Northern Border University, KSA
E. M. A. Elmahdi Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Sudan
Aimun A. E. Ahmed Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan

Keywords:

Diabetes mellitus, Insulin, lipodystrophy, Drug interactions

Abstract

This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey performed to assess knowledge and practice of diabetic patients towards insulin therapy in several diabetic centers and hospitals in Khartoum state, Sudan.The patients were interviewed and data was collected by self-administered, structured pre-tested questionnaires. The data was analysed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft excel 2007. A total of 385 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with insulin therapy participated in the study. 80.0% of the study participants injecting insulin in the subcutaneous tissue of thigh and upper arm while 19.2% of them inject insulin in the abdominal wall. Regarding the dose preparation, only 37.7% of the respondents appeared to know the correct way to draw insulin. Surprisingly, 82.9% of the patients knew the hypoglycemic symptoms and only 4.2% of the study participants’ complaint of lipodystrophy.78.4% of the patient’s stored insulin in the refrigerator. This study explored several aspects of insulin therapy related knowledge and practice of patients and identified the need for improvement in their practices towards insulin therapy.