Introduction & Objective: A substantial body of research among healthcare professionals has demonstrated modest correlations between perceived and objective diabetes knowledge and the potential impact on diabetes management. However, no research has compared perceived and objective knowledge among patients with diabetes. The objective of this study was to examine the strength of the linear and quadratic relationships between perceived and objective diabetes knowledge among adults with type 2 diabetes.
Methods: Two separate and independent samples of adults with type 2 diabetes were collected from a web-based panel. This cross-sectional study examined objective knowledge with the Diabetes Knowledge Test-2 (DKT-2) and patient self-reported knowledge using the novel Perceived Diabetes Knowledge Scale (PDKS). For both samples, linear regression analysis was performed to examine the linear and quadratic relationships between perceived diabetes knowledge and objective diabetes knowledge. Control variables (education level, diabetes duration, and prior diabetes education) were entered in step 1. The linear and quadratic terms for perceived diabetes knowledge variables were entered in steps 2 and 3, respectively.
Results: Study sample 1 (N = 321) and 2 (N = 255) were older (M = 64 and 69 years) and primarily White (85.7%, 89.0%). The PDKS demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability in samples 1 and 2 (α = .86, α = .87). The linear regression terms in samples 1 and 2 accounted for 5.6% and 5.2% of the variance in objective diabetes knowledge (ps < .05) after controlling for covariates entered in step 1. The quadratic terms were not significant in sample 1 or 2.
Conclusion: Patient perceived knowledge is weakly related to their objective diabetes knowledge. Healthcare professionals should not rely on patients’ self-report of their diabetes self-management knowledge and instead, use objective assessment (e.g., DKT-2) to determine patients' diabetes knowledge.
C.K. Clayton: None. A.A. Lee: None.
