Open Access Journal of Diabetes Research Reviews & Reports ISSN: 2755-0184 Volume 5(3): 1-6 J Diabet Res Rev Rep, 2023 Research Article Frequency and Awareness of Diabetes Mellitus in Participants of Primary Healthcare in the Capital of Turkey 1 Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Gazi University, Turkey 2 Assistant Professor, Gulhane School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Health Sciences, Turkey 3 Research Assistant, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Gazi University, Turkey 4 Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Gazi University, Turkey Asiye Ugras Dikmen 1 , Hülya Şirin 2 , Merve Atik Sahin 3 * and Secil Ozkan 4 Keywords: Diabetes Awareness Level, Diabetes Mellitus, Awareness Introduction Diabetes is a non-infectious chronic degenerative disease that occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin or cannot use the existing insulin effectively, and hyperglycemia or uncontrolled blood sugar is observed in patients [1]. According to the data of the IDF, approximately 537 million people in the world between the ages of 20 and 79 were found to have diabetes in 2021. It is predicted that this number will exceed 783 million in 2045 [2]. The worldwide estimation of diabetes patients are as follows; 206 million in the Western Pacific region, 90 million in Southeast Asia, 73 million in the Middle East and North Africa, 61 million in Europe, 51 million in North America and the Caribbean, 32 million in South and Central America It is estimated that 32 million people in the United States and 24 million in other parts of Africa [3]. One out of every 10 diabetes patients worldwide is thought to have Type 1 diabetes and diabetes is considered responsible for 6.7 million deaths worldwide in 2021. In other words, once every five seconds, one person dies due to complications of diabetes [ 3, 4]. According to IDF data, in 2011, frequency of diabetes was 7.9% in Turkey. However, this number increased dramatically to 14.5% in 2021 [5]. Current estimations show that in 2020, 15% of the population aged 20-79 (approximately 7 million people) in Turkey will have diabetes [6]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Diabetes Statistics Report indicates that 25% of people living with diabetes and 88.4% of people with diabetes inspudus are unaware of their disease [7]. The frequency of those who unknowingly have diabetes in Turkey in 2021 is thought to be 41.8% [5]. In addition, diabetes is considered to be one of the diseases with the lowest adherence to treatment [8]. Awareness-based approaches have been shown to reduce disease-related problems, depressive symptoms, anxiety during the disease process, and improve quality of life in diabetes patients [9]. Alongside awareness-based approaches, the economic burden caused by potential diabetes complications might be reduced *Corresponding author Merve Atik Sahin, Research Assistant, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Gazi University, Turkey. Received: May 08, 2022; Accepted: May 15, 2022; Published: May 20, 2023 ABSTRACT Introduction: Awareness-based approaches are proven to reduce disease-related complications, depressive symptoms, anxiety during the disease process, economic losses due to disease, and improve quality of life in diabetes patients. is study aims to present the frequency and awareness of diabetes mellitus in patients who applied to a primary health care institution in the capital city of Turkey. Materials and Methods: is cross-sectional study was conducted in the capital city of Turkey. In statistical analysis; descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and logistic regression analysis methods were employed for the statistical analysis part of this research. Results: 24.4% of the participants had diabetes. Regarding diabetes awareness level, statistically significant differences were found in age, education level, marital status, income, attention to healthy nutrition, BMI and presence of chronic disease. Employment variable has been identified as the factor that affected the diabetes awareness score the most in multiple logistic regression analysis. When only the participants with diabetes were examined in the multiple logistic regression analysis, it was found that the factor affecting the diabetes awareness score the most was diabetes type. Other influencing factors were determined as diet for diabetes and receiving diabetes education, respectively. Conclusion: Despite of many research that were carried out under the roof of diabetes awareness in the world and in Turkey, the desired level of knowledge and awareness is yet to be reached. Further research needs to be conducted in order to reach this goal.