Abstract

KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICES OF DOCTORS REGARDING MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES TYPE2 DURING THE MONTH OF RAMADAN

Dr. Shahana Hoor*, Dr. Rabia Javed, Dr. Rukh-e-mah Tariq, Professor Dr. Samina Asghar, Dr. Aasma Naeem, Dr. Shawana Shahid, Dr. Nishat Shafiq Khan, Dr. Zumirah Atiq

Abstract

Objective: The provision of optimum management and care to the patients suffering from Diabetes Mellitus type II, who intend to fast during Ramadan, is very challenging for the doctors. It may lead to severe complications in the patients in form of dehydration, diabetic ketoacidosis, hypoglycaemia or hyperglycaemia, which may sometimes be life-threatening. This study aims to assess the knowledge and practice of doctors regarding risk stratification, dietary and pharmacological interventions, identification of complications, and blood glucose monitoring during the fasting and non-fasting hours and also to identify the major barriers towards safe practice of fasting in diabetic patients during Ramadan. Methodology: It was a one-month observational descriptive cross sectional study which was carried out in public and private sector hospitals of Punjab province of Pakistan. The sample size calculated for the study was 30. The questionnaire comprised of demographic variables and 30 questions to assess the knowledge and practices of doctors regarding safe management of diabetic patients during Ramadan. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS (version 22). Total score of knowledge and practice was 30. Scores less than 15 were graded as poor, those between 16-22.5 as good while scores >22.6 as excellent. P-Value was set at 0.05. Results: The overall response rate was 86.67% (26/30). 46.15% respondents were males and 53.84% were females. The mean age of respondents was 27.88 +/- 3.91 years. 79.90% were government employees while 23.07% were employed in private sector. The total mean score of knowledge and practice was calculated as 17.69 +/-0.54, the maximum and minimum scores being 23 and 11 respectively. 19.23% exhibited poor score, 69.23% had good score, while only 11.53% secured excellent score. The biggest barrier towards the safe practice of fasting diabetic patients was found to be the lack of knowledge of healthcare professionals and lack of privacy and counselling in hospitals. Conclusion: Overall, the doctors had good knowledge and exhibited safe practice towards management of diabetic patients intending to fast during Ramadan. But still, literature shows that there are gaps regarding management of Diabetes during Ramadan. Therefore, there is need to properly educate doctors through specialized training so that this gap can be filled.

Keywords: Doctors, Ramadan, Diabetes Mellitus type II.