Patchareeporn Promruksa. Factors associated with screening service utilization for diabetes mellitus in risk populations at primary care units. Master's Degree(Family Nurse Practitioner). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2009-03-31.
Factors associated with screening service utilization for diabetes mellitus in risk populations at primary care units
Abstract:
Diabetes is a major chronic health problem and diabetes screening services have been put in place to counter this risk. However, these services are under-utilized. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the relationships among diabetes knowledge, attitude towards diabetes, received information, perceived risk, service accessibility, and the use of diabetes screening services. A sample of 400 people aged 40 years and over in Ban Pong district, Rachaburi province, Thailand, was randomly drawn from family records held at primary care units in the district. One group had used the diabetes screening services and the other had not. Data were collected by using questionnaires and analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Chi-square. The findings showed that high diabetes knowledge, a positive attitude towards diabetes, having received information, perceiving risk, and having access to services were positively related to the use of diabetes screening services with statistical significance at p < 0.01. The results enable us to understand the characteristics and major factors that affect the utilization of diabetes screening in this area and by extrapolation to similar areas. These findings can help formulate strategies promoting awareness of diabetes screening and removing the barriers to accessing health care service in the at risk population.