Table 1:

General knowledge of diabetes mellitus (DM), risk factors, symptoms and complications, in which participants were asked to select either “yes”, “no”, or “unsure” as a response.

General knowledge of DM	Percentage of correct responses
Diabetes is a condition of high blood sugar	70
Diabetes is a condition of inadequate insulin action *	54
Diabetes is non-contagious *	67
Diabetes is curable	65
Insulin is required for some diabetic patients	79
Diabetes is a disease affecting the pancreas *	46
There are several types of diabetes * #	57
Can diabetes be prevented/delayed? *	74
Diabetes is a long-term disease	72
Diabetes is related to lifestyle	67
Knowledge of risk factors for DM
Family history #	71
Obesity	55
Decreased physical activity #	53
Age above 40 years old #	44
Pregnancy (delivering a baby of more than 4 kg)	23
Race/ethnicity	19
Excessive consumption of sugar	57
Knowledge of Symptoms of Diabetes
Excess feeling of thirst	56
Excess urination	58
Unexplained weight loss #	49
Excessive eating	36
Blurred vision	39
Slow healing of cuts and wounds	59
Tiredness and weakness	69
Burning feet	39
Joint stiffness/pain	52
Knowledge of Complications of Diabetes
Eye problems	54
Kidney problems *	57
Pain in joints	55
Loss of sensation in arms and legs *	48
Gangrene in limbs requiring surgical removal *	29
Cardiovascular disease	40
Oral and dental complications	37
Recurrent infection *	29
Psychological problems	28
High blood cholesterol/lipids	56
Erectile dysfunction/loss of libido*	28

^*Significant difference seen between genders (P = ≤0.05)

^#Significant difference between participants with and without a family history of diabetes (P = ≤0.05)