Diabetes related knowledge among residents and nurses: a multicenter study in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Assessment of knowledge among resident trainees and nurses is very important since majority of patients admitted in hospital have underlying diabetes which could lead to adverse clinical outcomes if not managed efficiently. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the knowledge related to the management of diabetes among registered nurses (RN) and trainee residents of internal medicine (IMR), family medicine (FMR) and surgery (SR) at tertiary care hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan.Methods: A validated questionnaire consisting of 21 open ended questions related to diabetes awareness was acquired through a study done at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia with the permission of primary author.Results: 169 IMR, 27 FMR, 86 SR and 99 RN completed a questionnaire that assessed the knowledge related to different aspects of management of diabetes. The results were further stratified by participant's specialty and level of training. The percentage of knowledge based questions answered correctly was found to be low. The overall mean correct percentage among all the participants was 50% +/- 21. There was no statistical difference in terms of knowledge between IMR & FMR residents (64% +/- 14 vs. 60% +/- 16, p = 0.47) respectively. The total scores of SR and RN were quite low (40% +/- 16 & 31% +/- 15 respectively).SR and RN were found to have profound deficit in both inpatient and outpatient knowledge of diabetes. We did not observe any improvement in level of knowledge of FMR & SR with increase in duration of their training (p = 0.47 & 0.80 respectively). In contrast, improvement in the level of knowledge of IMR was observed from first to second year of their training (p = 0.03) with no further improvement thereafter. RN's didn't respond correctly on most of the items related to in-patient management of diabetes (Mean score 40% +/- 20).Conclusion: As there are no prior studies in our setting evaluating knowledge related to diabetes management among residents and nurses, this study is of paramount importance. Based on these results, considerable knowledge gaps were found among trainee residents and nurses pointing towards need of providing additional education to improve the delivery of diabetes care. © 2012 Ahmed et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.