Knowledge and attitudes of health workers and the society about gestational diabetes

Introduction: Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a common medical condition during pregnancy. In Turkey, it is thought that thera are important gaps about awareness of doctors, assisted health personnel and public in terms of screening,diagnose and follow up of GDM. This lack of awareness has led to significant discussions on the safety and feasibility of the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in recent years, which may affect public health. Based on this deficiency, we aimed to reveal the knowledge levels, attitude and behavior characteristics of the doctors, assisted health personnel and volunteer participants in the region where the university is located. Materials and Methods: This study is a descriptive study which aims to evaluate the knowledge levels, attitude and behavior characteristics of health workers and local people in Diyarbakır city center on GDM and issues. Physicians, assisted health personnel (nurses, midwives, health officers) and volunteers between the ages of 18 and 65 were included in our study. Those who did not accept the study were excluded from the study. For the three groups in our study, three different data forms were prepared to evaluate socio-demographic data, awareness levels related to GDM and OGTT. Results: A total of 1069 people [Women (W) (n=639) (%59,02) / Men (M) (n=439) (%40,08)] were included in our study. 306 physicians [M/F: 211(69%) / 95(31%)], 363 assisted health personnel [F/M: 263(72.5%) / 100(27.5%). 400 volunteers [F/M: 273(68.3%) / 127(31.8%)] were included. In our study, it was found that the level of GDM awareness of the volunteer participants was 56.8%. It was determined that 93.5% of the physicians, 58.1% of the staff and 42.3% of the volunteers thought that OGTT should be done to all pregnant women. It was determined that 8.5% of health personnel and 22.9% of volunteers had no knowledge of OGTT. While most of the physicians stated that GDM screening should be performed in all pregnant women, there was no statistically significant difference between the physicians' level of expertise and their responses (p = 0.112). The doctor's acceptance rates of OGTT for themselves or their wives were; specialist doctors (92.9%), assistant doctors (85.7%) and general practitioners (72.8%) (p = 0.002), respectively. When volunteers were grouped according to their educational level, there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of GDM awareness (p = 0.014). There was a significant difference between the sexes (M / F) in terms of the responses of the volunteer participants about whether they would want OGTT during pregnancy, however the significanse weren't detected when the educational status taken into consideration(p <0.001 and p = 0.122, respectively). It was determined that the volunteers learned GDM from pregnant women, doctors and TV / Radio programs (34.8%, 25.6% and 6.6%, respectively). It was determined that 82.4% of the doctors, 51.5% of the health workers and 68.3% of the volunteers would want to take OGTT if they or their wife (s) become pregnant. The majority of the participants who did not want to make OGTT stated that they would been given a high amount of glucose for the test and that the test might be harmful for the baby. Conclusion: In our country, which has a high prevalence of GDM, we believe that GDM awareness can be increased by providing accurate and adequate information about GDM and OGTT especially for health professionals, and it can be ensured that all pregnant women can be screened with OGTT (single or two step). Keywords: GDM, awareness, OGTT, screening.