"I feel good but data said no!," Misperception among rural diabetic residents in Taiwan: A cross-sectional descriptive study

Abstract

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the misperception of diabetes control and practicing exercise and healthy diet among rural diabetic residents.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A cross-sectional survey was carried out. Participants with previous diagnoses of type2 diabetes were enrolled on health promotion projects concerning diabetes foot prevention from 18 primary health care centers in rural regions of Chiayi County, Taiwan.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Approximately 58% of the participants were female (411/715) and the mean age of the participants was 69 years. The findings indicated that a high percentage of participants underestimated their fasting blood glucose (FG) and HbA1C status. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL, blood pressure and waist circumference were above expert recommendations in the "feel good" group and many did not adopt a healthy diet and physical activity. The final logistic regression model demonstrated that frequent exercise (p=.001), normal fasting glucose (p=.000) and normal HbA1C (p=.000) tended to perceive feel good.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Misperception and unawareness of diabetes control were prevalent among rural diabetic residents. Addressing misperceptions by rural diabetic residents and increasing knowledge of professional recommendations in such individuals could be an important step in improving diabetes control.</p>