Diabetes self management: Role of knowledge

Background: Diabetes, one of the dangerous non communicable diseases. Management of type 2 diabetes becomes difficult with poor knowledge regarding disease condition. This review will focus on role of knowledge of people with type 2 diabetes in the management of their disease condition. Aim: To review the knowledge of people with type 2 diabetes about their disease and its management. Methods: EBSCO discovery service was used to conduct a comprehensive literature search to identify all relevant articles published in English language from January, 2000 to December, 2016. Through EBSCO discovery services the following electronic databases were searched: Science Direct, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, MEDLINE, Academic OneFile, Scopus® and Access Medicine. Of the 13,605 studies retrieved in the initial search, 33 studies were retained for the final review. Results: Of 33 studies, majority of the studies shown that people with type 2 diabetes has poor to moderate level of knowledge. Even though few studies demonstrated good level of knowledge in people with type 2 diabetes intervention focused on converting knowledge into practice is required. Conclusion: Future research activities are needed to be focused on improving knowledge regarding diabetes and its management in people with type 2 diabetes and interventions to translate those knowledge into practice will be the key in diabetes management.