Level of knowledge and evaluation of perceptions regarding pediatric diabetes among Greek teachers

To assess the knowledge and attitudes of nursery school, preschool and primary school Greek teachers regarding pediatric diabetes.

Our anonymous questionnaire was comprised of three parts: the first part was regarding sociodemographic characteristics; the second part was assessing basic knowledge about diabetes and the third part was about personal perceptions regarding diabetes management in the school setting. A total of 375 fully completed questionnaires were collected (22.67% from males).

Males had a higher percentage of correct answers than females (80.71 ± 10.58% versus 80.17 ± 11.77%), but without reaching statistical significance (p = 0.763). Teachers aged over 45 years, tertiary education graduates and teachers in the public sector proved to be more knowledgeable about the disease. Question scoring the lowest percentage of correct answers were those dealing with the management of diabetic emergencies, such as the course of action in case a diabetic pupil is found unconscious. One out of four participants incorrectly declared that a delay in the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus cannot possibly be life-threatening whereas, an embarrassing 7.47% of the participants stated that diabetes is a contagious disease and another 6.67% declared that diabetic children should stop school.

It is evident that there is an urgent need for providing further information, as well as practical training to schoolteachers with emphasis being placed on the initial symptoms of diabetes and also in the detection and management of diabetic emergencies.