Nutritional surveillance and diabetes knowledge among patients with type 2 diabetes

- Men with adequate disease knowledge were consuming more “healthy” oils and attained greater fat-free mass index.
- Men with optimal HEI consumed less energy, Na and cereals but more fruits, dairy and meat.
- In the women, disease knowledge and HEI were not related.
- HEI and waist circumference were negatively associated among women.
- Women attaining an optimal HEI consumed greater meat but fewer cereals.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to assess diet quality and disease knowledge among patients with Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM).MethodsA cross-sectional analysis was employed using data from 75 patients diagnosed with T2DM (37 men), aged 34-88 years old, that were recruited from the Rural Hospital of Gavalou, outside the city of Agrinio, in Greece. Disease knowledge was assessed with the Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT) and diet quality with the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), calculated from previous day food recalls. Basic anthropometric measurements were also performed.ResultsThe participants exhibited a median HEI score of 71.6 (60.0, 78.1), with a very low percentage of the sample (16.0%) reporting the adoption of a diet of adequate quality. The majority of the patients (81.3%) answered correctly in more than 50% of the DKT questionnaire, exhibiting a median DKT score of 64.3 (50.0, 71.4)%. Among men, DKT score was correlated to the HEI score, FFMI, as well as the energy, absolute protein, fat and sodium intake. Men with optimal HEI scored correctly in significant more DKT questions than men with low HEI (70 ± 10 vs 53 ± 14%, p = 0.034). Women with optimal HEI had or tended to have lower body weight than those with mediocre or low HEI, respectively (p = 0.027 and p = 0.051).ConclusionsThe study revealed a low prevalence of adequate diet quality and disease knowledge among patients with T2DM, with different parameters affecting diet quality and diabetes knowledge among men and women.