Knowledge and Perceptions towards Cardiovascular Disease Prevention among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Review of Current Assessments and Recommendations

Introduction: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are at significantly higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). There is scarcity of literature reviews that describes and summarises T2DM patients' knowledge and perception about CVD prevention. Objectives: To describe and summarise the assessment of knowledge and perceptions about CVD risk and preventive approaches among patients with T2DM. Methods: A scoping review methodology was adopted, and three scientific databases, Google Scholar, Science Direct and PubMed were searched using predefined search terms. A multistage screening process that considered relevancy, publication year (2009-2019), English language, and article type (original research) was followed. We formulated research questions focused on the assessment of levels of knowledge and perceptions of the illness relevant to CVD prevention and the identification of associated patients' characteristics. Results: A total of 16 studies were included. Patients were not confident to identify CVD risk and other clinical consequences that may occur in the prognostic pathway of T2DM. Furthermore, patients were less likely to identify all CV risk factors indicating a lack of understanding of the multi-factorial contribution of CVD risk. Patients' beliefs about medications were correlated with their level of adherence to medications for CVD prevention. Many knowledge gaps were identified, including the basic disease expectations at the time of diagnosis, identification of individuals' CVD risk factors and management aspects. Knowledge and perceptions were affected by patients' demographic characteristics, e.g., educational level, race, age, and area of residence. Conclusion: There are knowledge gaps concerning the understanding of CVD risk among patients with T2DM. The findings necessitate educational initiatives to boost CVD prevention among patients with T2DM. Furthermore, these should be individualised based on patients' characteristics and knowledge gaps, disease duration and estimated CVD risk.