Assessment of knowledge and perceptions towards diabetes mellitus and its associated factors among people in Debre Berhan town, northeast Ethiopia

Background Globally, diabetes is a major public health burden that results in more than 3.2 million adult deaths per year. Currently, diabetes is increasingly becoming a major threat to global public health, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although previous studies emphasized knowledge and health beliefs about diabetes among patients living with diabetes, there is minimal evidence about knowledge and perception of risk for developing diabetes at the community level. Objective This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception of diabetes mellitus and its associated factors among people in Debre Berhan town, northeast Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 participants. The study was carried out from 25 February to 10 March 2019. Data were collected using a structured pretested questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. Data were entered into Epi data V 3.1 and exported to SPSS V 24 for analysis. A variable with p< 0.2 in bivariable analysis was entered into multivariable logistic regression. During multivariate analysis, variables with a p value of <= 0.05 were considered significantly associated. Result A total of 237 (56.02%) participants had good general knowledge about diabetes mellitus. In the multivariable analysis, participants who were single (AOR = 9.08, CI: 1.72-48), had a family history of diabetes (AOR = 2.83; CI: 1.10-7.24), and had exposure to health education (AOR = 3.27; CI: 2.02-5.31) were associated with good knowledge. In this study, few respondents (20.1%) felt that they had a higher risk of developing diabetes. Two-thirds of respondents (62.4%) saw diabetes is a serious disease. On the other hand, approximately 67% agreed to the perceived benefits of screening. Conclusion Almost half of the Debre Berhan community was found to have inadequate knowledge of diabetes mellitus. Married, higher educational status, exposure to health education, and family history of diabetes mellitus were significantly associated with good knowledge. The perceived risk of developing diabetes was low at the community level, although many respondents felt that behavior change is important in the prevention of diabetes. Therefore, policy makers, healthcare managers, and healthcare workers need to work cooperatively to foster community knowledge towards diabetes mellitus.