Perception and Healthcare Seeking Behaviour Of Diabetes Mellitus Patients Towards Chest Pain , Sudan

Background Cardiovascular ischemic diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among diabetic population.This study aims to evaluate the perception and healthcare-seeking behavior of diabetes mellitus patients regarding chest pain. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited 207 Diabetic patient from a public diabetic center in Sudan. It used an interview-based questionnaire assessed sociodemographic characteristics, perception toward chest pain, and healthcare-seeking behavior in response to a hypothetical myocardial infarction scenario.SPSS version 27 was used for analysis with significance set at p < 0.05. Results The mean age of participants was (54 years old ± 12SD ), majority were females (79.23%),married (82.61%), have medical insurance (87.92%), with no previous personal (97.58%) or family(85.51%) history of heart attack, and have no relative doctor (74.4%). Most participants reported immediate medical care-seeking behavior (86.47%) and preferred consulting doctors (88.41%). However, 34% did not recognize heart attack as a cause of chest pain, and only 14.49% correctly identified central location of Cardiogenic chest pain. About 36% did not perceive diabetic patients are more susceptible to myocardial infarction, however educational level positively correlated with perceived susceptibility to myocardial infarction. Conclusion Diabetic patients demonstrated appropriate healthcare-seeking behavior responding to myocardial infarction scenario.However, gaps in their Perception Toward chest pain suggest a need for targeted educational interventions.