Lower knowledge about diabetes among foreign‐born compared to Swedish‐born persons with diabetes—A descriptive study

AIM: To compare foreign‐ and Swedish‐born persons, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, to study whether there are dissimilarities in knowledge about diabetes and to study determinants of knowledge. DESIGN: A cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted. METHOD: Data were collected between September 2014 and March 2016, using the standardized Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT), statistically analysed. RESULTS: The results showed dissimilarities in knowledge between foreign‐ and Swedish‐born persons, supporting the hypothesis that foreign‐born persons had lower knowledge about diabetes than Swedish‐born persons. There was a relationship between poor knowledge and country of birth, marital status and employment status. Country of birth was the strongest independent determinant of knowledge about diabetes. The risk of poor knowledge was ten times higher among persons born in the Middle East or in another country outside Europe compared with Swedish‐born persons. Other influencing factors for poor knowledge about diabetes were being not gainfully employed and living alone.