Dietary knowledge, attitude and practice among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Sudan: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: In Sudan, the prevalence of diabetes in adults was estimated at 19.1% in 2015. This study assessed dietary knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Sudan. METHODS: We randomly selected 238 T2DM patients from a list of 2460 patients from the Jabber Abulizz Hospital. We interviewed them face-to-face using a structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the determinants of KAP regarding the recommended diets for T2DM patients. RESULTS: Majority of the patients demonstrated good knowledge (54.6%), positive attitude (79%); and good practice (58%). The result revealed that patients with formal education had 3.0 (95% CI: 1.6–5.7) times higher odds of having good diabetic dietary knowledge than those with informal education. While patients who had good knowledge and a positive attitude were respectively 4.7 (95% CI: 2.4–8.9) and 3.2 (95% CI: 1.5–6.7) times more likely to follow dietary recommendations than the patients with poor knowledge and negative attitudes. CONCLUSION: Irrespective of the socio-demographic position, the good knowledge and the positive attitude towards the recommended diet, all the T2DM patients complied with the dietary recommendations. These findings highlight the need for improving knowledge and promoting positive attitudes towards the recommended diet among T2DM patients.