[01] Elvin Liaw Yee Fan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Chung Jing Sy, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Lavven Rao Ram Babu, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Soenia Singam, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [05] Thadshiney Nair Sasidaran, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Malaysia has become a growing concern in recent years. A contributing factor to the rise in the number of diabetics would be the lack of knowledge and awareness of the population towards diabetes. Hence, we conducted a study aimed at assessing the knowledge and awareness towards diabetes mellitus amongst Malaysian undergraduate medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2020 amongst students of the Malaysian campuses of MMMC, and purposive sampling was used to enrol them into our study. The data was collected using an online administered questionnaire comprised of open and close ended as well as multiple-choice questions. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: sociodemographic information, awareness, and knowledge towards diabetes. The data was then calculated using statistical tests such as ANOVA and unpaired T-test using the Epi Info software. 183 students of MMMC took part in this study. 33.88%, 58.47% and 7.56% of students displayed good, moderate and poor knowledge respectively. In the attitude assessment, the participants scored a mean of 25.6 out of 30, indicating positive attitudes toward diabetes. In our study, significant association was found between age groups and knowledge. Those aged 25-27 scored highest knowledge percentage mean, followed by those aged 22-24, while those aged 19-21 had the lowest knowledge percentage mean. The fact that older participants had a more refined level of understanding of the disease was found to be the most likely reason for this. However, there were no significant association between gender, ethnicity, family history of diabetes and knowledge about the disease. There was significant association between family history and attitude towards diabetes. Those with family history of diabetes scored higher attitude percentage mean compared to those without. There was significant association between knowledge of diabetes and the students’ attitudes towards it. Those who had better knowledge demonstrated higher attitude scores whereas students who had poor knowledge displayed the lowest attitude scores. However, there was no association between age, gender, ethnicity and attitudes towards diabetes. In conclusion, majority of the students of MMMC displayed knowledge and awareness of diabetes.

Diabetes Mellitus, Knowledge, Attitude, Cross-Sectional, Medical Students

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