Objective:

To verify the prevalence of knowledge and attitude of people with diabetes mellitus type 2 in relation to the disease and associated factors.

Methods:

A household survey of 398 people with diabetes mellitus type 2 enrolled in Primary Care. Three questionnaires were applied: one for sociodemographic and clinical data collection; the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKN-A) and the Diabetes Attitude Questionnaire (ATT-19). For data analysis, bivariate tests and multiple logistic regression were used.

Results:

More than half of the individuals (55.8%) presented unsatisfactory knowledge about the disease and the majority (92.2%) had difficulty in coping with it. There was an association between knowledge about the disease with eight or more years of study, normal waist hip ratio, regular capillary blood glucose check, and inverse relationship with time of diagnosis <10 years. The positive attitude towards the disease presented an association with age between 50 and 60 years and, conversely, with episodes of hyperglycemia.

Conclusion:

The prevalence of knowledge and positive attitudes towards the disease was considered low. As for the associated factors, most of those evidenced in this study are not subject to modification, reinforcing the importance of health promotion activities that are especially focused on the groups that present these factors.

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