Background: Most physical health problems result from chronic disease, in particular diabetes, the prevalence of which is increasing day by day. Preparing and planning for the prevention of this chronic disease would reduce the cost of caring for the elderly and improve their quality of life. This study of the knowledge and health behavior of middle-aged people with diabetes risk factors could help to identify problems and recommend preventive measures and a public health strategy for Thais in this risk category, both in the short- and long-term.
Objective: To assess the levels of knowledge, readiness and health behavior of middle-aged people at risk of developing diabetes.
Material and Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed by interviewing patients at Rajavithi Hospital, Outpatients Department of Family Medicine who were between the ages of 40 to 60 years and at risk of developing diabetes. Preparedness, knowledge about the disease, and everyday health behaviors were examined with the use of an assessment form. Subjects who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled between September 2016 and May 2017.
Results: Education was one of the factors significantly affecting knowledge of the disease. Of subjects with a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, 63.6% had a low level of knowledge about diabetes, while those with moderate and high levels both accounted for 18.2%. Of participants whose education level was below bachelor’s degree, the majority (84.1%) had a low level of knowledge about diabetes, while 13.8% had moderate levels and 2.1% had good knowledge. Personal disease was also a
significant influence. Of participants with no comorbid disease, most (61.5%) had a low level of knowledge while 30.8% and 7.7% had moderate and high levels respectively. The vast majority (86.2%) of participants who had underlying diseases had a low level of knowledge about diabetes, while 11.5% and 2.3% had moderate and high levels respectively. Gender was a significant factor with regard to health care behavior. Most males (71.65%) had moderately good health care habits, while 22.1% and 6.3% had low and high levels respectively; in contrast, 37.6%, 57.3% and 4.5% of females had poor, moderate and good health care behavior habits.
Conclusion: The levels of knowledge and health care readiness of middle-aged people who were at risk of developing diabetes were generally low to moderate. The factors that had a significant association with knowledge about diabetes were education and personal disease, while the factor significantly associated with self-care behavior was gender, with males having better readiness than females.

Keywords: Readiness to prevent diabetes, Middle aged, Risk for diabetes, Education level, Diabetic knowledge