RISK PERCEPTION, ATTITUDE AND LIFESTYLES RELATING TO DIABETES MELLITUS PREVENTION AMONG NURSES IN IBADAN SOUTH-WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major public health challenge. Perception of risk, attitude and lifestyles relating to DM has not been fully investigated among health care providers, especially nurses who play important clinical roles in prevention and control of the disease. The study was therefore designed to determine the risk perception, attitude and lifestyle relating to prevention of DM among nurses in Ibadan South West Local Government Area (LGA), Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey. A four-stage random sampling technique was used to select 417 nurses from 8 government and 3 private hospitals in the LGA. The combination of Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes (RPS-DD) questionnaire and William Kiberenge questionnaire on knowledge, attitude and practices related to diabetes were used for data collection. Risk perception was measured on an 11- point scale of High perception (>7), Medium Perception (5-7), Low perception (2-4) and No perception (0-1). Knowledge was measured on a 25-point scale of Good (scores >19), fair (12-18) and Poor (scores<11). Attitude to DM prevention was measured on a 20-point scale of positive (14-20), negative (<14) and lifestyle relating to DM prevention on a 23- point scale of healthy (18-23) and unhealthy (<18). Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated from measured weights and heights of respondents; it was classified as underweight (<18.5kg/m2), normal weight (18.5-24.99kg/m2), overweight (25-30kg/m2) and obesity (>30 kg/m2). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chisquare at 5% level of significance. Respondents’ mean age was 39.1±11.2years and 85.1% were females. Respondents’ mean year of practice was 13.5 ± 9.3years. Majority (62.8%) of the respondents knew two types of diabetes and that lack or malfunctioning of insulin was the major cause of DM. Half (50%) of male respondents had poor knowledge of DM compared to 36.9% of females. Less than half (46.6%) of respondents from government hospital had fair knowledge of DM while most (36.6%) of the respondents from private hospitals had poor knowledge. Nearly half (49.9%) of the respondents had a “High risk perception” of DM (67.7%males; 46.8%females). Majority (77.5%) of the respondents had positive attitude towards lifestyle characteristics relating to DM prevention. Most (62.6%) of the respondents did not exhibit some healthy lifestyle characteristics such as eating vegetables and fruits daily, regular exercise, and blood sugar check. Respondents’ mean BMI was 26.7 ± 6.0 kg/m2. Some (32.6%) of the respondents were overweight. There was a significant positive association between level of knowledge of DM and their risk perception, lifestyle characteristics, BMI. Nurses with normal BMI had positive attitude and healthy lifestyle characteristics, but poor knowledge of DM and low risk perception. Clinical knowledge of diabetes has no significant influence on attitude and lifestyle characteristics associated with Diabetes prevention, positive reflection on their attitude and lifestyle could be attributed to their cultural beliefs and myths.Thus a need for regular appraisal of nurses’ knowledge requirement followed by educational training tailored to improve nurses’ knowledge about Diabetes.