Abstract
Objective: To characterize users with Diabetes Mellitus according to sociodemographic and clinical variables and to assess knowledge and attitude towards the disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out with 173 users with Diabetes Mellitus registered at the Heart Diagnosis and Diabetes Control Center, in the city of Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco. In the data collection, a systematic script was used to obtain the sociodemographic and clinical variables, as well as the collection instruments: The Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire to assess knowledge and the Diabetes Attitude Questionnaire to assess attitude. Results: The population was characterized by adults and the elderly, with an income of up to one minimum wage. Regarding knowledge, 65.3% of users had scores below eight points, which shows unsatisfactory knowledge of the disease. The majority (98.3%) of users had attitude scores below 70 points, denoting difficulties in coping with the disease. Conclusion: It is concluded that the knowledge and attitude is still incipient, emerging the need to implement health education programs.