Diabetes knowledge among persons with serious mental illness and type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is an important medical condition associated with serious mental illness. The authors studied the disease-specific knowledge about diabetes in a sample of 201 psychiatric outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or major mood disorders, all of whom had type 2 diabetes. In a multivariate analysis, disease-specific diabetes knowledge was associated with higher cognitive functioning, a higher level of education, and recent receipt of diabetes education. Disease-specific diabetes knowledge predicted lower levels of perceived barriers to diabetes care. Gaps in diabetes knowledge may be reduced by specialized interventions that take into account the cognitive deficits of persons with serious mental illness.