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AWARENESS OF TYPE ONE DIABETES PRESENTING SYMPTOMS AMONG CAREGIVERS OF UNAFFECTED CHILDREN IN SAUDI ARABIA

Dr. Mesaed AlSenani, Dr. Shaden alsugheir, Dr. Syed Jamil, Dr. Abdulaziz AlKhaldi, Dr. Hisham Arabi, Dr. Omar Aldibasi

BACKGROUND OR OBJECTIVES: Diabetes type one (DM1) is a common endocrine disorder among children, the yearly diagnosed cases can reach up to 65,000 worldwide. The initial signs and symptoms of DM1 range from mild symptoms such as polyuria, polydipsia, and weight-loss to a moderate/severe condition as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). There is a lack of literature regarding the level of awareness of DM1 presentation in children among the caregivers. In our study, we aimed to examine the level of awareness of respondents on DM1 signs and symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed using a validated questionnaire of 16 questions. The questionnaire was distributed among Saudi parents of unaffected children who visited outpatient clinics at KASCH. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Chi-square was used to investigate the association between variables and the level of awareness. Significance was declared at alpha < 0.05. RESULTS: Out of 377 participants, (56%) were females and (44%) were males. The mean age was 38.8 with 10.3 standard deviation. Among participants, 50% had 4 children or more and (59%) had a bachelor's degree. (65%) of our sample have a relative with diabetes, majority (86%) had type 2 diabetes mellitus. The majority, (62%) recognized the DM1 symptoms and (62%) of them had received awareness about DM1. The commonest methods of awareness were gained from health care providers and the internet. When parents were asked about the most appropriate next step when recognizing DM1 symptoms, (47%) chose the correct step, which was taking the child to ER or the clinic urgently. The participants who received previous awareness, know someone with diabetes or have a health care provider in the family had significantly affected their outcome (p-value= <.0001).CONCLUSION: We recommend raising the awareness about the appropriate next step to follow when suspecting diabetes to decrease the risk of DKA as the first presentation.

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