Assessment of Diabetes-Related Knowledge and Dietary Patterns Among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Central Saudi Arabia: Insights for Tailored Health Education Strategies

Background and Objectives: Understanding the knowledge and dietary patterns of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients is essential to identify gaps and design tailored health education strategies to improve self-management and clinical outcomes. We assessed the diabetes-related dietary patterns, knowledge, and associated factors of T2DM patients. Methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional design, surveying 363 T2DM patients using a validated and pretested questionnaire. Knowledge levels were categorized as low (<50%), medium (50–75%), and high (>75%), and dietary patterns were classified as unhealthy (<34%), moderately healthy (34–67%), and healthy (>67%). We analyzed the data using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 23.0). The authors tested the relationship between diabetes-related dietary patterns and knowledge with Spearman’s analysis. The multivariate regression approach established the factors associated with these two components. Results: The findings revealed that 36.4% of participants had low knowledge, 34.4% had medium knowledge, and only 29.2% demonstrated high knowledge. Regarding dietary patterns, 34.4% were categorized as unhealthy, 33.3% as moderately healthy, and 32.3% as healthy. The authors found that these two domains were positively correlated (rho = 0.649, p = 0.001). Diabetes-related knowledge was significantly associated with gender (p = 0.018), duration of diabetes (p = 0.001), and patients with a family history of T2DM (p = 0.007). The dietary pattern was significantly associated with age (p = 0.001), duration of diabetes (p = 0.032), and presence of other chronic diseases (p = 0.028). Conclusions: The findings underscore the need for targeted health education strategies that address gaps in dietary knowledge and promote healthier eating behaviors among T2DM patients in Central Saudi Arabia.