Popular misconceptions regarding the diabetes management: where should we focus our attention?

Diabetes mellitus is a universal health problem with a global prevalence of 1.3%. India is known as the "Diabetes capital of the world" as it harbours the largest number of diabetes patients. There is lack of awareness about the existing interventions for preventing diabetes and for the management of the complications. One of the barriers in the way of seeking health care advice is the misconception about the disease, which revolves around all the aspects of diabetes, which include its prevention, control and treatment.

To determine the various misconceptions about the management of Diabetes mellitus in the study area.To find out the association of various misconceptions with the socio-demographic factors.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Urban Health Centre (UHC) Ariankuppam, Pondicherry. A total of 406 adult patients were interviewed. A pretested, semi-structured interview schedule was developed in the local language, and it was utilized to collect the data. The collected interview schedules were scrutinized for the accuracy of the information which was provided and for any lacunae. The compilation and analysis were carried out with the help of the Epi- Info software. The T test and the Chi-square test were used according to the distribution of the data, to see the associations of the different factors.

The commonest misconceptions were "Diabetes can be cured by herbal treatment" (46.6%) and "Bitter foods reduce the elevated blood sugar levels" (46.6%). The misconception, "The treatment should be stopped if the diabetes is controlled for few months" significantly decreased with advancing age. There were no significant differences between females and males when the various misconceptions were compared. The commonest misconception among females was "Bitter foods reduce the elevated blood sugar levels" (49.4%) and among males, it was "Diabetes can be cured by herbal treatment" (47.9%). When the misconceptions were compared, it was found that there were significant differences between the subjects who belonged to different religions.

The misconceptions regarding the diabetes management in the general population, irrespective of the education and particularly among the Muslim community, were widespread. A majority of these misconceptions were diet and drug related.