An Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices in the Management of Diabetes and Hypertension in Elderly

An assessment of the existing knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) in the management of diabetes and hypertension among old age people was undertaken as the objective that was accomplished through a questionnaire on KAP in the management of diabetes and hypertension developed by the investigators and administered to a sample of 120 old age people of which 60 men and 60 women further classified into 30 in 65-70 and 71-76 years of age group. The quantitative analysis was made applying percentage and student 't' test for significance of difference among the groups classified for the study. The finding revealed in the management of hypertension the mean score of men and women respondents were found to be higher in attitude followed by knowledge and practices. In the management of diabetes men and women respondents showed higher mean score in knowledge followed by practices and attitude. There was no significant difference in KAP in managing diabetes among men and women respondents. There was no significant difference in KAP among the two age groups of elderly in managing the disease. The KAP scores of elderly people can further improve with well planned educational programme using various audio visual aids to impart knowledge about the disease diabetes mellitus and hypertension.