TITLE:
Perspectives on the Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals toward Diabetes in Community Health Settings in United Arab Emirates
AUTHORS:
Wegdan Bani-issa, Kamal Eldeirawi, Hanan Al Tawil
KEYWORDS:
Diabetes Attitudes, Healthcare Professionals, Nurses, Pharmacists, Physicians, Dietitians, Continuing Education Programs
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Diabetes Mellitus,
Vol.5 No.1,
December
31,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Background: Diabetes is a chronic
disease that is associated with high cost and health care utilization.
Attitudes of healthcare professionals (HCPs) toward diabetes have a significant
impact on quality of diabetes care. Although the prevalence of diabetes in the
Arabian Gulf region is alarming, little is known about attitudes of HCPs toward
the disease. Methods: This study evaluates the attitudes of 337 HCPs toward
diabetes in United Arab Emirates (UAE) including physicians, pharmacists,
nurses and dietitians using the Diabetes Attitudes Scale (DAS-3). Data were
analyzed descriptively and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for
comparative analyses. Overall, HCPs groups demonstrated relatively adequate
attitudes toward diabetes (mean = 3.80, SD = 0.45). Results: The highest score
reported by HCPs groups was on the need for special training subscale (M =
4.49, SD = 0.38) and the lowest score was seen on patient autonomy subscale (M
= 3.31, SD = 0.45). Physicians showed significantly higher positive attitudes
on need for special training, seriousness of diabetes, value of tight glycemic
control, and psychosocial aspects of diabetes than other HCPs groups (P values