Factors Relating to Screening Visit Behavior for Diabetes Mellitus among People Aged 35 Years Old and Over in Naveng Public Health Community Center, Muang District, Sakon Nakhon Province

Abstract

This cross–sectional survey research aimed to study the factors related to screening visit behavior for Diabetes Mellitus (DM). The samples consisted of 251 people aged 35 years old and over and collected using the sample random sampling. The population which should be screened for DM within the fiscal year 2020 from 8 communities in the responsibility of Naveng Public Health Community Center, Muang District, Sakon Nakhon province were drawn lots. The primary data were collected by using questionnaires from January to February 2020. The Chi– square test was used to analyze the relationship between the screening visit behavior for DM and the studied factors. The results showed that there was 45.8% of samples received the DM screening service in the fiscal year 2020. The factors significantly related to screening visit behavior for DM were the gender (p = 0.010), income (p = 0.036), perceived susceptibility of DM (p = 0.032), perceived benefit for DM screening visit (p = 0.030) and overall perception (p = 0.027). The most common reason for DM screening visit was they had ever seen or known DM patients (79.1%) and then the public relations announced by public health officers and public health volunteers (39.1%). The results suggested that the screening activity promotion should be emphasized by providing information about the benefits of DM screening and enhancing the confidence of these target groups to eliminate the perceived obstacles of DM screening. The public relations of DM screening should be announced and the active screening services in communities should be provided increasingly. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, Screening visit behavior