الملخص الإنجليزي
Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease, if not managed properly it can lead to a long term complications, Oman is undergoing a rapid economic development leading to urbanization and modernization and it faces the challenge of a growing problem of diabetes. Diabetes management requires medical care and regular self control. Education is an integral part in the diabetes health care services. As patients are empowered with knowledge improvement in clinical outcomes and quality of life are seen. Internationally, knowledge of patients with diabetes and their attitudes, on different aspects of diabetes self-management, have been assessed using variable validated questionnaires In the few studies assessing diabetes in Oman, none have reported on the validity and reliability of their questionnaires. All these studies only reported on very narrow aspects of the knowledge related to diabetes self-management (long-term complications, symptoms of hypo- and hyperglycemia, and sources of carbohydrate in foods). Previous research on diabetes neglected to give a total picture of all aspects of diabetes self management as recommended in diabetes guidelines. Aim; Therefore, the aim of the study was to establish the reliability and validity of a comprehensive questionnaire assessing the knowledge on diabetes self-management and attitudes about diabetes education in a sample of patients with type 2 diabetes. Method: The study was carried out by a quantitative statistical method of questioning. A questionnaire was developed with three sections; knowledge about diabetes, attitude about diabetes education and patients' information (socio-demographic information and biochemical and anthropometric data). Face and content validity was assessed by a panel of experts. The reliability was tested via test-retest and Cronbach's alpha for assessing the internal consistency of the questionnaire. The criteria related validity was also measured using biochemical, anthropometric and demographic criteria. In total, 101 patients from Al-Khuwair Health Center, Muscat, were interviewed for criteria related validity. Results: Face and content validity was established between 7 to 9 experts out of 9 experts agreed on the quality of the questionnaire. Reliability was also established by test-retest (r). The test-retest correlation coefficient ranged from 0.7 to 0.9. The internal consistency Cronbach alpha was above 0.6 for all DKAQ subscales. However, the selected criteria (HbA1c, TG, LDL, HDL, BMI, WC, and gender) could not distinguish the knowledge level between the groups of patients with type 2 diabetes. There was a significant difference only in the mean percentages of knowledge about diet between patients with regards to their total cholesterol. Those with better total cholesterol have better knowledge. Additionally, there was a significant difference between male and female in two attitude subscales: confidence about diabetes knowledge and perception of the importance of diabetes education. In these two subscales, males had higher levels of confidence about diabetes knowledge and perception of diabetes education. Conclusion: DKAQ is a reliable tool based on test-retest reliability, and internal consistency. Also, it is valid based on face and content validity
