Diabetes is a major growing public health issue and prediabetes has been considered to be a reversible condition. The purpose of the present study was to assess knowledge of prediabetes and its risk factors for the community in the Al-Ahsa region. A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted in the Al-Ahsa region from mid-to-late December, 2018. Of the 812 respondents who gave consent to participate in the interview; 13.2% of the respondents reported that they had diabetes. Among the respondents, 87.1% had a high level of knowledge of prediabetes, while 12.9% had low-to moderate knowledge. Overall, there was a statistically significant association between age and prediabetes knowledge (?2 = 5.006, ? = 0.025). Occupation also showed a significant statistical association with prediabetes knowledge (?2 = 9.85, ? = 0.02). People in Al-Ahsa demonstrated a high level of knowledge regarding some risk factors for prediabetes. However, there were a number of deficiencies in the knowledge of prediabetes risk factors and preventive measures as well as in general knowledge of prediabetes, which may lead to a high prevalence of prediabetes and diabetes.
Keywords: Al-Ahsa, Community, Knowledge, Prediabetes, Saudi Arabia
