Safa Elbakhit
University of Khartoum, Sudan
Title: Diabetes in school-aged children; assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice among primary school teachers towards diabetic emergencies, khartoum state 2016
Biography
Biography: Safa Elbakhit
Abstract
Problem statement: Diabetic emergencies should be looked at with great caution as to be detected and treated immediately. Hypoglycemia and DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) cause serious complications if left unseen. Given the fact that school-aged children spend most of their day in school under their teachers care, it’s important that teachers must be trained to deal with such emergency cases.
Objective: In this study we aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of primary school teachers towards diabetic emergencies (hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia) in school-aged diabetic children.
Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study in which 88 teachers out of 13 primary schools were recruited to participate in the study. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaire. In Khartoum state 2017
Results: Regarding hypoglycemia; (40.9%) of the participants had very poor knowledge about symptoms of hypoglycemia. In case of suspected hypoglycemia, (30.7%) of the teachers would take the child to hospital without immediate intervention. Surprisingly, (33%) of teachers participated stated that they don’t know if hypoglycemia should be treated with insulin or not, while (15.9%) of the teachers would actually give the child insulin dose. Generally, (30.7%) of the participants did not know how to handle a case of hypoglycemia in the class. Which means that, 30 out of every 100 diabetic children will be at risk of coma or even death.
Regarding hyperglycemia; while (39.8%) of teachers had very excellent knowledge about the symptoms of hyperglycemia yet (30.7%) of them had very poor knowledge. In the case of suspected hyperglycemia, (82.9%) of teachers stated that they would prefer to take the child to the hospital. Generally,(60.2%) of teachers didn’t know how to handle hyperglycemia.
Conclusion: There were many misunderstandings about the symptoms and signs of hypoglycemia. The attitude and practice both are generally positive but still, we must increase the level awareness among teachers by the establishment of scientific and educational courses to fill the gaps and create a healthy society.