Abstract title
	Knowledge and Practice regarding type 2 diabetes among Geriatric patients in selected hospitals of Bangladesh

Background

The number of persons suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to rise worldwide and causes significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the developing countries, like Bangladesh. Behavior change and adoption of healthy lifestyle habits help to prevent or slow down the complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the knowledge and practice of healthy lifestyles in many diabetic as well as geriatric patients have still been inadequate.
Aim

To assess the knowledge and practice of type 2 diabetes among geriatric patients in selected hospitals.
Method

A cross sectional study was conducted among 450 type 2 diabetic patients. The age group of the respondents was aged ≥ 60 years. Data were collected purposively from selected three hospitals of urban and sub-urban Dhaka through face to face interview by pretested, interviewer administered questionnaires.
Results

Of the respondents, the mean age was 65±5 years. Among them, male preponderance (56%) was observed. Education status was poor with 34.2% respondents who didn’t attend school and only 13.8% were graduates. Out of 450 respondents 164 (36.44%) didn’t had any knowledge regarding diabetes mellitus.The respondents were asked on what they understand by diabetes, most of them 286 (63.56%) answered it is a condition that increasing blood glucose level. It was also found that 247(54.9%) respondents did not know the symptoms of diabetes. Study reveal that the level of knowledge was poor among the respondents on symptoms(80.7%), risk factors(84.4%), prevention(84%) and control(71.6%) measures. Only 8.7% had good knowledge regarding diabetes complications. Regarding level of practice of monitoring blood glucose (48.7%) and blood pressure (67.8%) was found to be good. Poor practice of 70.2% was found for eye examination. Foot care was not practiced by 93.8%. Most of the respondents (64.9%) visited physicians every 15 days. It was found that 158(35.11%) respondents didn’t have any diabetic complication. The total knowledge and practice score of the respondents was found good (19% & 35%), average (31% & 47%), and poor (50% & 18%), respectively. Knowledge and Practice score was strongly associated (p<0.01) with educational status and duration of diabetes. Also positive relationship (R2=0.247, p<0.01) was found between knowledge and practice score.
Discussion

Despite the positive opinion of respondents toward healthy lifestyle modifications, the knowledge regarding diabetes amongst the study participants were generally poor. Though the hospital authority providing educational videos in the waiting areas of the reception, the overall practice was average. This study revealed that Geriatric people with diabetes have more needs of diabetes care. Therefore, it could be suggested that repeated reinforcement and motivation along with diabetes health education is likely to bring about a positive change in knowledge and self-care practices.
Conflict of Interest
	I have no potential conflict of interest to disclose

Knowledge and practice regarding type 2 diabetes among geriatric patients in selected hospitals of Bangladesh