Prevalence of type 2 diabetes complications and its association with diet knowledge and skills and self‐care barriers in Tabriz, Iran: A cross‐sectional study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Diabetes can lead to multiple complications that can reduce the quality of life, impose additional costs on the healthcare systems and ultimately lead to premature death. Proper self‐care in diabetic patients can impede or delay the onset of diabetes complications. This study aimed to investigate diabetes complications and their association with diet knowledge, skills, and self‐care barriers. METHODS: This was a cross‐sectional study. A total of 1139 patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) referring to health centers in Tabriz, Iran, were included from January to July 2019. Data were collected using two questionnaires: (1) a sociodemographic questionnaire and (2) a Personal Diabetes Questionnaire (PDQ). Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22. χ (2) test was used to examine the association between the socioeconomic and disease‐related variables and the prevalence of diabetes complications. T‐test was used to examine the association between diet knowledge and skills, self‐care barriers, and the incidence of diabetes complications. RESULTS: In this study, 76.1% of patients had at least one complication, and 30.2% had a history of hospitalization due to diabetes complications during the past year. Approximately 49% and 43% were diagnosed with high blood pressure and hyperlipidemia, respectively. Cardiovascular disease was the most common diabetes complication (15.9%) and the cause of hospitalization (11.01%) in patients with diabetes. Barriers to diet adherence, blood glucose monitoring, and exercise were significantly associated with self‐reported diabetes complications (p < 0.001). Our results showed no significant association between the number of complications and diet knowledge and skills (p = 0.44). CONCLUSION: This study indicated that the prevalence of diabetes complications was higher among patients with more barriers to self‐care. In light of these findings, taking appropriate measures to reduce barriers to self‐care can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes complications.