Compliance with and knowledge about diabetes guidelines among physicians and nurses in Palestine

Guidelines for the care of patients with diabetes mellitus are believed to improve clinical practice and patient care. This study aimed to analyse the pattern of diabetes care by physicians and nurses in primary care clinics in Palestine and their self-reported compliance with the local Palestinian guidelines. Questionnaires were used to collect data from 401 participants in 3 governorates in the West Bank. In total, 46.0% of participants knew about the existence of the Palestinian guidelines and about 60% believed these were partially used; 32.7% had received training on implementation of the guidelines. Multivariate analysis showed that training on the guidelines was the only factor significantly associated with self-reported compliance with guideline use. Respondents reported high commitment to the use of the guidelines, but their attitudes and behaviour varied with time constraints, availability of the guidelines, availability of laboratory tests and training on how to apply the guidelines.