Knowledge and Perception of COVID-19 Infection among the Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Aim: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the perception of care among diabetes mellitus patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among 173 diabetes mellitus patients over 12 weeks in the endocrinology outpatient clinic. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to acquire data on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as questions to assess COVID-19 knowledge and perception of care. The data acquired were analyzed using SPSS, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: A total of 173 diabetes mellitus patients participated in the study, and there were more females than males (59% vs. 41%). The participants' mean age was 55.8 ± 14.9 years. The mean knowledge score was 12.42 ± 6.01, and the majority (51.4%) of the participants had poor knowledge of COVID-19 while 11.0% had good knowledge of COVID-19. Higher levels of education and monthly income were significantly associated with higher mean knowledge scores (P-value < 0.001). Increasing monthly income was the only significant predictor of higher knowledge scores (P-value < 0.001).

Conclusion: The majority of diabetes mellitus patients had poor overall knowledge of COVID-19. It is therefore imperative that patients with diabetes mellitus are well informed as new trends in COVID-19 unfold.