Periodontal health and diabetes awareness among Saudi diabetes patients

Figures & data

Table 1 Description of study population

Sociodemographic characteristics of participants	n	%
Sex
Male	231	50.9
Female	223	49.1
Age (years)
<20	51	11.2
≥20	180	39.6
≥40	188	41.4
60+	35	7.7
Nationality
Saudi	389	85.7
Non-Saudi	65	14.3
Education
Below college	180	39.6
College	208	45.8
Postgraduate	66	14.5
Medical history
Type of diabetes
Type 1	64	14.2
Type 2	390	85.8
Medication
Insulin	88	19.4
Oral hypoglycemic	315	69.3
Both insulin and oral hypoglycemic	51	11.3
Duration since onset (years)$
<5	93	26.9
≥5	107	30.9
10+	146	42.2
Family history of diabetes
No	105	23.1
Yes	349	76.9
First-degree relatives	271	77.7
Second-degree relatives	47	13.5
Both first- and second-degree relatives	9	2.6
More distant relatives	22	6.3

Notes: n=454.

$ n=346 cases (108 did not remember duration since onset).

Table 2 General and oral awareness and practices

Participants’ general health and oral hygiene practice	n	%
Exercise
Daily	60	13.2
Rarely	211	46.5
None	183	40.3
Recent glucose test
Today	136	30.0
Last week	49	10.8
Last month	174	38.3
More than a month	95	20.9
Visited physician for follow-up in the past year
Yes	364	80.2
No	90	19.8
Dental visits
Regularly	57	12.6
On need	397	87.4
Brushing frequency
Less than once a day	36	7.8
Once a day	297	65.4
Twice a day	100	22.2
More than twice a day	21	4.6
Flossing frequency
Never	334	73.6
Occasional	106	23.3
At least once a day	14	3.1
Ever been told by a health professional to take extra care
To brush teeth	0	0
To see a dentist regularly	24	5.2
Ever been advised by a dentist to take care and monitor diabetes
Yes	340	74.9
No	114	25.1
Participants’ general diabetes mellitus awareness
Diet
Patient must eat healthy diet	436	96.0
Patient must eat high-protein diet	54	11.9
Patient must eat high-carbohydrate diet	199	43.8
Causes of diabetes mellitus
Increase blood sugar level	362	79.7
Body unable to make sugar	188	41.4
Overweight	370	81.5
Eating too much sweets	88	19.4
Other items
There is only one type of diabetes	357	78.6
A fasting blood glucose of 250 mg/dL is too high	335	73.8
Participants’ awareness of the association between periodontal disease and diabetes
Diabetics have gum problems more often if their blood sugar remains high	212	46.7
Gum disease makes it harder to control blood sugar in diabetes	99	21.8
Diabetic smokers have more serious gum disease than nonsmokers	305	67.2
People with diabetes are just as likely to get gum disease as people who do not have diabetes	217	47.8

Note: n=454.

Table 3 Participants’ awareness and healthy behavior

	General awareness about diabetes mellitus			P-value	Awareness on the periodontal–diabetes association			P-value
	Median	Minimum	Maximum		Median	Minimum	Maximum
Level of education
School level	55.62	11.11	88.92	0.000*	50.0	0.0	100.0	0.026*
College	66.71	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
Postgraduate	66.72	33.31	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
Duration since onset (years)
<5	66.67	11.11	88.89	0.032*	50.0	0.0	100.0	0.304
≥5	55.56	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
10+	66.67	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
Exercise
Daily	66.67	22.22	100.00	0.000*	75.0	0.0	100.0	0.065
Rarely	66.67	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
None	55.56	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0
Physician visits during last year
Yes	55.56	11.11	100.00	0.034*	50.0	0.0	100.0	0.057
No	55.56	11.11	88.89		50.0	0.0	100.0
Dental visit
Regularly	55.56	11.11	100.00	0.339	75.0	0.0	100.0	0.011*
Only when needed	55.56	11.11	100.00		50.0	0.0	100.0

Note:

* Significance level at P<0.05.

Figure 1 Sources of diabetes-related information.