Level of Awareness of Diabetic Ketoacidosis Among Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Riyadh

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is considered to be a serious acute life-menacing complication of diabetes type (1) and type (2). The study aims to assess the level of awareness regarding DKA among diabetic patients in the Riyadh population.

Methodology: The study is an institution-based cross-sectional study with a sample size of 150 participants. The participants are chosen through systemic random sampling, who have type (1) or type (2) diabetes mellitus patients and are 18-35 years of age. The medical personnel were excluded from the study. A self-administered, precoded, and pretested questionnaire was developed especially for this study after consulting literature and epidemiologists containing data about the risk factor, management, and complication. Data were analyzed using (SPSS). A value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: 38.67% (58) participants have poor awareness regarding complications, 67.34% (101) have poor knowledge regarding management, and 6% (9) participants have a good knowledge, 38% (57) participants have poor knowledge regarding risk factors and 30% (45) of the participants have good awareness. The relation between having a first degree relative with diabetes and awareness regarding management is significant with a value of 0.022; 73% (110) of the participants had no relatives with diabetes mellitus and 71% (79) had a poor level of awareness regarding the management of DKA. However, 55% (22) of respondents who had relatives with diabetes mellitus also had a poor level of awareness regarding treatment.

Conclusion: The majority of the participants had a poor level of awareness. There is a relationship between having a first-degree relative with diabetic mellitus and the level of awareness regarding DKA.