Diabetes-related Public Stigma and Diabetes Knowledge of Undergraduate Students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences

Public stigma is one of the important consequences of living with diabetes. The present study aimed to compare and assess diabetes-related public stigma and diabetes knowledge of first and seventh-semester undergraduate students.

In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study, first and seventh- semester undergraduate students of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in the first semester of 209 were selected by random sampling. All volunteered students who returned the study consent form completed three questionnaires, including demographic characteristics, diabetes-related public stigma, and diabetes knowledge. A number of 16 experts assessed the face and content validity of questionnaires after translation and back translation. Content validity ratio was estimated at 0.64 for both questionnaires, while content validity indices of 0.87, and 0.88 were calculated for diabetes knowledge and diabetes-related public stigma, respectively. The results were analyzed in SPSS statistical software (version 24).

A total of 106 first-semester students participated in the study, the majority of whom (64.2%) were female. Moreover, 106 seventh-semester students participated in the study, the majority of whom (67.9%) were female. The mean scores of knowledge and stigma in first semester students were obtained at 11.23 (0.36) and 8.19 (0.53), respectively, and in seventh-semester students, these scores were reported as 13.97 (0.42) and 8.83 (0.56), respectively.

As evidenced by the obtained results, seventh-semester students scored higher in the diabetes knowledge questionnaire, as compared to first-semester students. Nevertheless, the public stigma scores of the two groups were not significantly different. These findings suggested that knowledge improvements alone cannot contribute to stigma changes, and multidimensional interventions may be needed to overcome diabetes-related stigma.