Healthcare Workers’ Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Towards The Care For Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus In Saudi Arabia: Narrative Review

Abstract

1. Introduction
Medication non-adherence is a commonly recognized problem in managing patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Non-adherence may result from inadequate knowledge of diabetes management by the patients. In Saudi Arabia, glucose control among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus often remains unsatisfactory. Healthcare providers, their attitudes towards diabetes mellitus care, knowledge, and how these are reflected in their practices with patients are important dimensions in managing people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Very little quantitative research is available on healthcare workers and these variables. The present review provides ideas for further studies that may help to improve the health of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia.
Methods
To facilitate a multidisciplinary, computerized medical literature search, the total number of hits from all databases was collated, and after duplicates were removed, 464 articles remained. Every abstract was downloaded and reviewed; those unrelated to the topic were excluded, and four hundred and thirty-seven remained. The full articles were examined, where again irrelevant items and duplicates of previously accessed articles were excluded. The remaining study papers were carefully read, and information on study design, methods, results, and conclusions was transcribed. A descriptive analysis was conducted according to the topic of the present study. The research questions of the present study are: 1) What is the perspective of healthcare workers towards type 2 diabetes? 2) What are the consultation practices of healthcare workers in relation to patients with type 2 diabetes? 3) Do healthcare workers educate and provide healthy lifestyle counseling for patients with type 2 diabetes?
Conclusion
To be able to effectively care for patients with T2DM, the delivery of care for these patients needs to be supported by the best available evidence. However, in managing T2DM, the critical mass of health care workers, including physicians and other health professionals, has a notable shortage, which could hinder the effective care for those who have this condition. The complex challenges of caring for patients with T2DM can be such that health professionals do not have the knowledge and confidence to appreciate the guidelines on diabetes. This could result in inconsistent care and thus can lead to poor patient management and quality of care for T2DM. However, health care providers in Saudi Arabia, plausible because of the high prevalence of this condition, are likely to have more patients with T2DM than other conditions. Yet, limited information is available on health care workers' knowledge, attitude, and practices in respect to the care of patients with T2DM.
The aim of this narrative review was to collate and synthesize information about Saudi healthcare workers' knowledge, attitude, and practices in caring for patients with T2DM. If available, this review does not include, quantify, or provide evidence about diabetes education programs in Saudi Arabia in terms of their effectiveness that target health care workers. However, this review suggests that there is a pressing need to improve the knowledge and practice behavior of health care workers in patient management if we are to achieve the desired diabetes clinical, behavioral, and quality of life outcomes. The findings of this narrative review should be used cautiously to interpret the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Saudi health care workers. Due to the diverse studies conducted to date, the findings have limited cross-comparative data and are not reflective of a national level.