Information seeking behavior of patients with diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study in an outpatient clinic of a university-affiliated hospital in Athens, Greece

Background The purpose of this study is to examine the information behavior of diabetic patients, a relatively unexplored field of diabetes care, including their needs for information, resources used, obstacles encountered and degree of satisfaction for diabetes-related information acquisition. Methods 203 patients (males: 110, type 2:172) followed-up in the outpatient Diabetes Clinics of a University-affiliated hospital in Greece were assessed, using a validated questionnaire. Results Patients identified diet (61.4%) and diabetic complications (41.9%) as “the most important” for their information needs and the treating physician (94.6%) for information resources. Internet importance and frequency of use ranked low. Main obstacles to information seeking were “lack of time” and “cost”. Most patients (71.4%) stated they were “quite” or “very satisfied” with the current possibilities of information seeking. Conclusions Diabetic patients’ stated information needs and information sources, as well as main obstacles to obtaining information could potentially have important implications in designing a future information campaign