Diabetes Self-Management Knowledge and Practices among Civil Servants in Enugu State

Abstract

Diabetes is becoming a more common health challenge in contemporary times and increasingly in Nigeria particularly in Enugu State. Understanding of self-management knowledge and adoption of its practices are veritable ways of reducing the prevalence and impacts of diabetes. The study investigated the diabetes self-management knowledge and practices among civil servants in Enugu State, Nigeria. Three research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Cross-sectional research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of all civil servants (34,061) in Enugu State. The sample size comprised of 396 Civil servants with diabetes in Enugu State civil service drawn using multi-stage sampling procedure. The Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center’s Revised Knowledge Questionnaire (True/False version),and Andreas Schmitt (2013) Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire (DSMQ). Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The null hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that respondents had moderate knowledge of diabetes self-management and majority of the civil servants with diabetes adopted diabetes self-management practices to a considerable degree. There was no significant difference in the level of diabetes self-management knowledge among civil servants based on age. However, the authors recommended that there should be an increase in diabetes self-management education by health educators and other health professionals to be able to improve diabetes self-management knowledge and practices among civil servants with diabetes.