The Impact of educational intervention on knowledge about diabetes mellitus among Indonesian high school students

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a state of hyperglycemia caused by a variety of factors. Increasing population understanding and awareness of DM will improve community health outcomes. Direct public education and mass media campaigns can significantly raise public awareness of DM and its complications. Until recently, knowledge about DM is still not fully understood, especially in student population. We aimed to measure the extent of knowledge level about DM with pre-test and post-test in Indonesian students. Methods: This interventional non-randomized longitudinal study was held in Alif Laam Miim Islamic Boarding School Surabaya. An intervention was provided by giving education about diabetes mellitus through offline seminars, handbook, and interactive discussion with the experts. Pre- and post-test questionnaires with a close-ended question were given before and after intervention. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS using the wilcoxon test. Result: This study consisted of 95 students with the mean age of 14.94 ± 1.44 years. Around 16.84% of the participants had a family history of DM. After knowledge intervention, there was a significant difference between pre- and post-test score (p = 0.00), with the mean score being 36.90 ± 1.64 and 65.21 ± 1.26 respectively. There were positive changes in almost all answers regarding diabetes general knowledge, diabetes signs and symptoms, and diabetes management in the school (p < 0.05). Conclusion: There was an improvement about diabetes mellitus knowledge in Indonesia’s high school students after giving an educational intervention.