The Impact of Knowledge and Attitudes on Self-management of People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Abstract Background: The prevalence of diabetes has been widely studied and knowledge, attitudes, and self-management have been shown to relate to each other in particular to the diabetic populations. However, little research has demonstrated the network of associations between knowledge, attitudes, and self-management in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the links between knowledge and attitudes, and its impact on self-management in people with T2DM. Methods: Fifty-five adults of both genders with T2DM, aged 30-70, from the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne completed the Diabetes Knowledge Scales (DKN), to assess knowledge about diabetes; the Diabetes Integration Scale-39 (ATT39), to assess attitudes toward having diabetes; and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA), to evaluate self-management of diabetes of people with T2DM. This study reports on path model by using AMOS 17.0. We determine the path diagrams based on empirical findings to provide a visual portrayal of relations that are assumed to hold among the variables (i.e., knowledge, attitude, and self-management) under study. Results: The results of this study revealed that attitude was associated with diabetes knowledge (p