School communities knowledge in child diabetes mellitus type 1

The incidence of type 1 diabetes in children has increased significantly in Portugal. Children spend much of their day in school. The long association between children, teachers and other school staff is great. So it is easy for teachers and other actors to observe changes in their behavior and in their physical appearance, so these professionals must be trained to recognize the early signs and symptoms of adverse diabetes and take the right decision about what to do. What are the knowledge of professionals in the school community of the elementary and secondary education of central region of Portugal on diabetes type 1 in children? This is a cross-sectional descriptive study on the expertise of professionals in the educational community on children with diabetes mellitus type 1 in a sample of 382 workers in the educational community (teachers and operating technicians), aged between 24 and 74 years old, average age of 43,05 years (SD=8,675). Data collection was conducted through a questionnaire distributed to professionals in the educational community about the knowledge of diabetes mellitus type 1 in children. The level of knowledge about diabetes has good reliability and internal consistency for the study with a Alpha Cronbach value of 0,907. Participants are mostly teachers 68,8%, holders of higher education (78,5%) residing in urban areas (82,3%) and 68,1% reported knowing someone with diabetes mellitus type 1. In total 39,3% of the participants have deficit of knowledge on diabetes mellitus type 1, 25,7% have reasonable knowledge and 35,1% have good knowledge. It is highlighted by inferential analysis that female, residents in the urban area and operating technicians showed significantly better knowledge of diabetes (p=0,023, p=0,033, p=0,009), respectively. We conclude that there is a deficit of knowledge concerning diabetes in children, verifying the need to promote training and educational activities to education professionals and others working with children