Objective: Diabetes is a lifelong disease caused by the deficiency or ineffectiveness of insulin hormone. The aim of diabetes treatment is to keep blood sugar regulated thus improving quality of life and preventing the development of long-term complications. In this study, the sociodemographic characteristics that cause diabetes regulation and the complications that may occur because of the disease are examined. We compared the regulation of diabetes and complications and awareness by determining the complications, awareness of patients and the other factors that affect the regulation of diabetes.
Methods: A questionnaire form was applied to 216 patients with diabetes older than 18 years old who applied to the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Internal Medicine outpatient clinics of Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital. Data on sociodemographic information, awareness levels, the values and factors effecting the disease regulation and complications were analyzed.
Results: 58.7% of the patients were female and 41.3% were male. 70.8% of the patients were over 50 years old. 26.3% of the patients did not have any graduation and 49% were primary school graduates. 48.6% of the patients had an income level of 2,000 TL and below. The rate of patients with regulated HbA1c was 30.5%. The rate of patients using insulin was 54.6%. In our study, the mean HbA1c of the retinopathy group was found to be significantly higher than that of the non-retinopathy patients, but there was no significant difference between HbA1C levels and nephropathy. The awareness points of the HbA1c group, which were not regulated, were significantly lower than the ones in the regulated group.
Conclusion: Determining the factors affecting diabetes regulation, the presence of complications and awareness levels play an important role in the follow-up and treatment of diabetes.