PMID- 36974247
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20230329
IS  - 2168-8184 (Print)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Electronic)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Linking)
VI  - 15
IP  - 2
DP  - 2023 Feb
TI  - Awareness Level of Hypoglycemia Among Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 Patients in Al 
      Qassim Region.
PG  - e35285
LID - 10.7759/cureus.35285 [doi]
LID - e35285
AB  - Background Hypoglycemia has a major impact on patient health and glycemic 
      management during insulin therapy for both type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes 
      mellitus (T2DM). It is the rate-limiting complication in diabetes management that 
      prevents stringent glucose control. Objectives To assess the knowledge and 
      awareness about hypoglycemia as a complication of T2D in adults in Al Qassim, 
      Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a cross-sectional study done among type 2 diabetes 
      patients in Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January to June 2022. A 
      previously validated online questionnaire was disseminated through social media 
      to gather information from respondents. Participants were chosen via a simple 
      random sampling technique. Data analysis was completed using SPSS (version 23; 
      IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results Overall, 213 respondents were included in our 
      study. The majority of them were females (70.9%). The participants' average age 
      was 35.9 + 13.0 years. Our results revealed that the average awareness score of 
      the study population was found to be 3.6 +/- 1.1 (by using the Clarke method) and 
      3.7 +/- 2.1 (by using the Gold method). Moreover, we found that impaired awareness 
      of hypoglycemia's prevalence by Clarke's questionnaire was 52.1% and 53.5% by 
      using the Gold questionnaire. In addition, almost half of the respondents 
      reported weakness as a symptom of hypoglycemia over the last six months and 
      unconsciousness over the last 12 months. Hypertension was the most commonly 
      reported chronic disease by our participants. Lastly, factors such as age, 
      gender, educational level, geographic distribution, and history of chronic 
      illness did not show any significant association with impaired awareness of the 
      prevalence of hypoglycemia. Conclusion According to our research, we concluded 
      that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the region of Al-Qassim, Saudi 
      Arabia, had insufficient knowledge about hypoglycemia as a complication of T2D. 
      Moreover, the impaired awareness of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients was found 
      to be high. Hence, there is a need for interventional programs to raise public 
      awareness.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2023, AlTowayan et al.
FAU - AlTowayan, Adel
AU  - AlTowayan A
AD  - Endocrinology and Diabetes, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, SAU.
FAU - Alharbi, Seetah
AU  - Alharbi S
AD  - Internal Medicine, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraidah, SAU.
FAU - Aldehami, Maryam
AU  - Aldehami M
AD  - Family and Community Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, SAU.
FAU - Albahli, Rand
AU  - Albahli R
AD  - Family and Community Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, SAU.
FAU - Alnafessah, Sama
AU  - Alnafessah S
AD  - Family and Community Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, SAU.
FAU - Alharbi, Abeer M
AU  - Alharbi AM
AD  - Family and Community Medicine, Qassim University, Qassim, SAU.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20230222
PL  - United States
TA  - Cureus
JT  - Cureus
JID - 101596737
PMC - PMC10039802
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - diabetes mellitus
OT  - hypoglycemia
OT  - knowledge of hypoglycemia
OT  - qassim region
OT  - saudi arabia
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2023/03/29 06:00
MHDA- 2023/03/29 06:01
PMCR- 2023/02/22
CRDT- 2023/03/28 01:57
PHST- 2023/02/18 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/03/29 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2023/03/28 01:57 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/03/29 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/02/22 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.7759/cureus.35285 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Cureus. 2023 Feb 22;15(2):e35285. doi: 10.7759/cureus.35285. eCollection 2023 
      Feb.