Turkish Adaptation of Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center’s Revised Diabetes Knowledge Test and Determination of Factors Affecting the Knowledge Level of Diabetic Individuals

ABSTRACT

Objective: Education is the cornerstone of diabetes management, and numerous educational studies used Diabetes Knowledge Level Tests to determine the effectiveness of education. Our study was planned to adopt the revised Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT2) of the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center for the Turkish population.

Material and Methods: A total of 296 diabetic subjects using insulin were included in the study. After the determination of the validity of the language and content of the test, it was applied to the patients. The reliability of the study was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The results of the DKT2 demographic values, and laboratory tests of the patients were noted.

Results: Cronbach’s alpha values were 0.60, 0.59, and 0.70 for the first part, second part, and complete test, respectively. The test-retest reliability values were 0.76 and 0.87 (p<0.001), respectively. The correct response rate to the first part was 32.68±2.47% in patients with Type 1 diabetes and 32.16±2.66% in patients with Type 2 diabetes using insulin. The correct response rate to the second part was 19.68±2.05% and 19.55±2.96%, respectively.

Discussion: The Turkish adapted version of DKT2 is a reliable tool to measure patients’ level of diabetes knowledge. However, in order to increase the level of knowledge of the patients, education of diabetes should be improved.