Introduction & Objective:A previous study aimed to assess the awareness levels of diabetes risk factors and complications within the San Antonio population. Now, using the same data, we aimed to stratify the data based on educational attainment to determine whether or not there is a correlation between educational attainment and awareness levels of diabetes risk factors and complications within the Bexar County population.
Methods: The previous study conducted a community-based study by administering surveys to individuals outside retail stores such as HEB and Walmart and at a health fair where participants received complimentary health check-ups. Direct emails to complete the survey were also sent.
Results: A total of 273 individuals were included in the survey, of whom 33.3% had a college degree as their highest level of education, 24.2% had a professional degree, 26.4% had a high school degree, and 16.1% had a high school diploma. When asked about the prevalence of diabetes in the San Antonio community, there was a definite correlation between educational attainment and knowledge about the prevalence of diabetes in San Antonio-44.4% of those with a professional degree were able to correctly identify that less than 25% of the San Antonio population had diabetes, while this statistic was 38.5% for those with associates, 30.5% for those with a college degree, and 25.5% for those with a high school diploma. However, this is not a perfect correlation as those with an associate degree were more accurate than those with college degrees. There was also a direct correlation between educational attainment and preventability perception in San Antonio, as 75% of those with a professional degree knew that diabetes could be prevented, as opposed to those with a high school diploma (64.8%).
Conclusion:Higher education correlates with increased diabetes knowledge in San Antonio. Further research should consider geographic location to identify awareness patterns.
A. Gedala: None. S. Madan: None. A. Venkatesh: None.
