Impact of patient counselling on knowledge, attitude, practices of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of counseling in terms of knowledge, attitude, practices (KAP) outcomes. To counsel the diabetic patients about their disease, medications, and lifestyle modifications that are necessary for proper disease management. Materials and Methods: A randomized prospective controlled study was conducted for 6 months in the general medicine outpatient department of SSIMS and RC. Patients enrolled were randomized into test and control groups. Suitably designed and validated KAP questionnaire was applied at baseline and final follow-up for both groups. Results: At the end of the study, knowledge and attitude levels were markedly improved in test group patients. The fasting blood sugar of the patients in the test group were found to be significant (p<0.00) when compared from baseline to second assessment whereas in control group, no significant changes were observed (*p>0.05). Conclusion: The study concluded that the improved knowledge and attitude clearly indicates the benefits of pharmacist-provided counseling although they did not translate into improved practice outcomes. The study observed that hospital pharmacists can play a key role in the management of diabetes mellitus and patient care.