Awareness of Parents Regarding DKA Symptoms in their Children with Type I DM

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a common emergency and life-threatening illness. Also, if not detected early, early treatment in the emergency room can cause serious complications. The goal of managing type 1 diabetes is to maintain the correct levels of blood sugar, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure, lipid levels, and body weight while avoiding hypoglycemia. Treatment of type 1 diabetes requires proper insulin treatment, proper nutrition, physical activity, preventive education, and patient self-care Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine parental perceptions of DKA symptoms in children with type 1 diabetes in the Northern Region of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: In the Northern Region of Saudi Arabia, a cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2020 to May 2021 among parents with diabetic children at the Diabetes Center in the Northern Region of Saudi Arabia using a pre-designed online questionnaire distributed on social media web-sites to collect data. Data was analyzed by using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS, version 23) and results was presented by tabular and graphical presentation according to the study objectives.

Results: only 42.9% of our participants responded that they have good knowledge about DKA. 19.2% thought it only occurs in children. 43.3% of our participants knew that DKA is a complication of diabetes due to hyperglycemia. Regarding the source of information about DKA among our participants, our data demonstrated that only 22.9% of our participants got their information about DKA from the doctors, and 31.8% of the participants had the internet as their source of information regarding DKA. In the current study, 14% of the participants said that they had a child had DKA at least one, and 91.6% of them were admitted to the hospital. There was a significant relation with gender, age of the parent, and educational level, while it showed insignificant relation with marital status.

Conclusion: In conclusion, knowledge of most of parents of diabetic children about diabetic ketoacidosis is poor. Their main knowledge source is not trustful or adequate. Their main knowledge source is not trustful or adequate. Therefore, we recommend policy makers to held health education to parents and/or caregivers of type 1 diabetic children regarding all aspects of DKA. It must be properly achieved in a structured manner based on a general outline that should include education at the onset of treatment and then repeated based upon an annual assessment of patients’ training needs or upon their own request. Areas of poor knowledge related to diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis should be emphasized during health education sessions.