Dietary knowledge, attitude and practice among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Sudan: a hospital-based cross-sectional study

Background: In Sudan, the prevalence of diabetes in adults was estimated at 19.1% in 2015. This study assessed dietary knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Sudan. Methods: We randomly selected 238 T2DM patients from a list of 2460 patients from the Jabber Abulizz Hospital. We interviewed them face-to-face using a structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the determinants of KAP regarding the recommended diets for T2DM patients. Results: Majority of the patients demonstrated good knowledge (54.6%), positive attitude (79%); and good practice (58%). The result revealed that patients with formal education had 3.0 (95% CI: 1.6-5.7) times higher odds of having good diabetic dietary knowledge than those with informal education. While patients who had good knowledge and a positive attitude were respectively 4.7 (95% CI: 2.4-8.9) and 3.2 (95% CI: 1.5-6.7) times more likely to follow dietary recommendations than the patients with poor knowledge and negative attitudes. Conclusion: Irrespective of the socio-demographic position, the good knowledge and the positive attitude towards the rec-ommended diet, all the T2DM patients complied with the dietary recommendations. These findings highlight the need for improving knowledge and promoting positive attitudes towards the recommended diet among T2DM patients.