Abstract

Background: Diabetic neuropathy is a significant cause of morbidity and is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality in type 2 diabetic patients. There is definite evidence that the risks of nephropathy and other diabetic complications could be lowered by strict control of hyperglycemia. However, diabetic awareness is lacking among patients across Asia. This survey analysis aims to determine the level of awareness of diabetic neuropathy among diabetic patients in Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: A self-administered structured questionnaire was distributed in the Al-Ahsa region, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including questions on diabetic neuropathy symptoms and manifestations, in addition to sociodemographic data. The data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program version 22.
Results: A total of 259 patients responded to this questionnaire. The average knowledge score for the whole cohort was 3.83 ± 2.893. The maximum knowledge score was 11, whereas the minimum score was zero. Patients aged between 16 and 25 years old had a significantly higher (p-value < 0.001) mean knowledge score (4.83 ± 3.119) compared to other age groups. Furthermore, patients who had a university degree showed a significantly higher (p-value = 0.008) mean knowledge score (4.24 ± 2.813) compared to other educational levels.
Conclusion: The level of knowledge of the Saudi population toward diabetic neuropathy symptoms was found unsatisfactory. Further studies are needed to find the correlations between the incidence of diabetic neuropathy and the level of knowledge of patients toward diabetic neuropathy.

Key words: Awareness ; diabetic patients ; diabetic neuropathy; Saudi Arabia