Type 2 adult diabetic patients source of information attending chronic follow up units of dessie referral hospital, northeast Ethiopia

Background: Health information obtained from different sources has an impact on diabetes patient health care outcomes. Time to time there is a growing concern over the quality of health information sources used by diabetic patients. The degree to which diabetes patients follow advice as self-care behaviours determined by the source of information they got through various methods. Objective: To asses type 2 adult diabetic patients source of information on chronic follow up units of Dessie referral hospital. Method: Cross-sectional study design was conducted in diabetic chronic follow up units of Dessie referral hospital from May 1 to 30, 2018. Systematic random sampling method was used to select participants by using patient registration book as a sampling frame and the first study subjects was selected by lottery method. Data was collected by interviewer administered questionnaire. Epidata 3.1 and SPSS version 23 software were applied for data entry and analysis respectively. Results: Among respondents 89.5% of them source of information about diabetes was medical staffs, 18.5% from media and the remaining 18.5% from friend/family. Among respondents 45.7% would like to access information’s about diabetes mellitus through handouts/leaflet, 25.0% through video/tapes, 29.3% through both handouts/leaflets and video/tapes and 11.4% through education during appointment. Conclusion: In this study the role of media and friends/family were low to aware diabetes mellitus patients so that attention should be given by Ethiopian broadcast corporations, health care professionals and diabetic associations. Source of information should be given for diabetic patients in the form of leaflet and videos.