Background Type 2 diabetes is a pandemic in India, yet studies regarding knowledge, attitude, and practices in diabetes in various Indian communities are limited. It is essential to understand the current gaps in knowledge and problems with attitude and perceptions of the general population regarding diabetes to effectively plan public health policies. Method In this study, 2163 subjects (1079 urban, 1084 rural) from West Bengal, India, with no exposure to any formal diabetes awareness including through familial experience or by virtue of their profession, participated in a structured response cross-sectional knowledge-attitude practice (KAP) survey focusing on perception about diabetes, its diagnosis, and management during FY 2013–2014. Result Both rural and urban communities lacked complete knowledge of diabetes. Forty-nine percent of rural responders were not aware of the term “diabetes” itself. Also, among the rural responders who were familiar with the term lacked knowledge related to blood glucose monitoring and role of insulin in diabetes management. Though 74% of urban respondents were aware of insulin’s use in diabetes management, 39% had misconception regarding its extended use. Responders from both urban and rural communities showed higher awareness towards general health practices like, benefits of exercise or demerits of junk food, in comparison with diabetes-specific questions. Conclusion The study reveals the need for effective diabetes-specific health awareness campaigns to address the rise of diabetes pandemic in resource-limited country like India. There is an urgent need to address unfounded fear of adverse reaction of insulin over extended use.

中文翻译：

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印度西孟加拉邦农村和城市人群的糖尿病认知研究：我们准备好应对大流行了吗？

背景 2 型糖尿病在印度是一种流行病，但印度各社区关于糖尿病的知识、态度和做法的研究有限。必须了解当前大众对糖尿病的态度和看法方面的知识差距和问题，以有效规划公共卫生政策。方法 在这项研究中，来自印度西孟加拉邦的 2163 名受试者（1079 名城市人，1084 名农村人）没有接触任何正式的糖尿病意识，包括通过家庭经历或凭借他们的专业，参与了结构化反应横断面知识态度实践 (KAP) 调查，重点关注 2013-2014 财年期间对糖尿病、其诊断和管理的看法。结果农村和城市社区都缺乏完整的糖尿病知识。49% 的农村受访者不知道“糖尿病”这个词本身。此外，在熟悉该术语的农村响应者中，缺乏与血糖监测和胰岛素在糖尿病管理中的作用相关的知识。尽管 74% 的城市受访者知道胰岛素在糖尿病管理中的用途，但 39% 的人对其长期使用存在误解。与特定于糖尿病的问题相比，来自城市和农村社区的受访者对一般健康实践表现出更高的认识，例如运动的好处或垃圾食品的缺点。结论 该研究表明，需要开展有效的针对糖尿病的健康意识运动，以应对像印度这样资源有限的国家糖尿病流行的兴起。