A total of 153 subjects were included in this study. The mean age of the respondents was 54.50 ± 11.78 years with extremes of 10 and 84 years. The age range [55 - 70 years[ was 46.4%. Of the 153 respondents, 93 (60.8%) were women with a sex ratio of 0.64. Regarding the profession, Civil servants and traders represented 51 (33.3%) and 42 (27.4%) of the respondents respectively. Among the 153 respondents, 118 (75.3%) were married. As for the level of education of the respondents, 68 (42.5%) had a secondary level and 38 (2.8%) a higher level. Finally, the respondents practicing the Christian religion was 125 (81.7%).

Among the 153 respondents, 145 were aware of the duration of their disease. The median duration of diabetes was 6 years, with an Interquartile Range (IQR) = [3 years - 11 years] and extremes of 3 months and 44 years. The duration of [1 - 5 years] was 40.7%. This is type 2 diabetes for 136 (8.9%) of respondents.

Of the 153 surveyed, 120 had performed HbA1c. Of the 120, 95 or 79.16% had an HbA1c greater than or equal to 7%. The mean HbA1c value was 9.18 ± 2.72. The main chronic complications found in patients were neuropathies representing 25.5%, followed by stroke at 17% and retinopathies at 16.3%.

Regarding the antidiabetic treatment used by patients at the time of the survey, oral antidiabetics alone were taken by 91 (59.5%) respondents and 29 (18.9%) took insulin alone.

Lived at the announcement

The announcement of the illness was painful for 87 (56.9%) respondents and acceptable for 23.5%.

The main emotions felt by the respondents were sadness in 48 (31.4%), fear in 35 (22.9%) and shock in 20.9% ( Table 1 ).

Sharing diabetic status with those around you and their reaction

Among the 153 respondents, the desire not to share their diabetic status was expressed by 20 (13.1%) respondents. The reasons given in half of the cases were fear of stigmatization by those around them. Thus, 25 (16.3%) reported having been stigmatized by those around them because of their diabetic status.

Others: Reprimand on eating habits and lack of awareness of the disease by those around you.

Sharing of status was done with family at 96.7% and friends and acquaintances at 11.1%. At the announcement, the reaction of the entourage was support (66.7%), advice (22.2%) and shock (13.7%) as indicated in Table 2 .

Impact of diabetes on the daily lives of diabetic patients

The daily difficulty was the diet for 56 (36.5%) respondents followed by the lack of financial means to honor drug prescriptions and check-ups for 45 (29.4%) respondents.

Changes in daily life were represented by dietary habits in 54.2% of cases and reduction in physical abilities ( Table 3 ).

Others: Weekly blood sugar monitoring, carrying a sugar cube in your pocket, less respect and consideration from those around you, and depressed mood due to diabetic status.

Others: Reduction in cube consumption, reduction in fruit consumption, and preferring wine over beer.

As for the restrictions imposed, dietary restrictions were observed on 116 patients (75.8%) and the cessation of professional activities (13.1%) were the most notified.

Regarding dietary restrictions done by the 116 patients, these included reducing sugar consumption (36.2%), alcohol (13.7%) and food quantity (9.8%), as shown in Table 4 .

Regarding care, 100 (65.3%) patients reported experiencing difficulties in their daily lives due to lack of financial means (60%), the daily taking of oral antidiabetic medications and compliance with hygiene and dietary measures (10%) ( Table 5 ).

ADOs: Oral antidiabetics; MHD: Hygiene-dietary measures. Others: follow-up appointments with doctors are difficult because there is little time to express our concerns, cohabiting with people who do not know your status, overflowing during consultations, the results of the assessments are not available at all, and hospitalization for diarrhea due to regular consumption of vegetables.

As for the psyche, diabetes had influenced the morale of 109 (71.2%) of the respondents.

In our study, the average age of our respondents was 54.50 ± 11.70 years. This average is close to that found in the study by Traoré et al. [9] in 2021 in Mali which was 54.23 ± 15.95 years and in the study by Mizouri et al. [10] in 2021 in Tunisia which was 55.08 ± 14. 22 years. This supports Buysschaert [11] who stated that type 2 diabetes mainly affects subjects aged 40 and over. A female predominance was also noted with a sex ratio of 0.64. A female predominance of 57.5% is also found in the study by Séré et al. [12] in Burkina Faso in 2021. Our results are also similar to those found by Houngla [13] in Benin in 2020 with a proportion of women at 76.58%.

The female predominance found in these various studies conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa could perhaps mean that women tend to be more overweight and obese compared to men.

Regarding marital status, the majority of respondents in our study were married, i.e. 75.3%. These results are similar to those found by Mogounwafo [14] in Mali in 2014 and those of Houngla [13] in Benin in 2020, which found 62.8% and 65.5% of married people respectively.

In our study, the median duration of diabetes was 6 years. Approximately 71.8% had a duration of diabetes of less than 10 years. Our results contrast with those of Sawadago et al. in Burkina Faso in 2020 who found the median duration of diabetes to be 10.4 years [15] . In fact, the frequency of unrecognized and incidentally discovered type 2 diabetes is not negligible [16] . The circumstances of discovery of the disease vary from one country to another depending on the degree of medicalization and awareness of the populations [17] . It therefore appears that the durations of type 2 diabetes found in the different studies do not actually reflect the real duration of the disease.

Regarding the type of diabetes, type 2 was the most common. Our results are similar to those of Némi et al.’s 91.2% [16] in Togo in 2019 and Kyelem et al. [18] in 2014 in Burkina Faso who found 75% and 91.2% of type 2 diabetics respectively. And speaking of degenerative complications, neuropathies (25.5%) were the most common followed by strokes at 17% and retinopathies at 16.3%. These results are consistent with data from the literature [19] .

In our study, the announcement of diabetes was painfully experienced by 56.9% of our respondents. The emotions mainly felt were sadness at 31.4%, followed by fear at 22.9% and shock at 20.9%. Our results are similar to those found by Mogounwafo [14] in Mali in 2014 and those of Pillon et al. [20] in 2014 in Madagascar who had collected respectively 62.8% emotional shock and 63.51% anxiety at the announcement of diabetes. In France, Mosnier-Pudar et al. [21] in 2009 noted that 68% of respondents had a negative reaction to the diagnosis (anxiety, fear, injustice, fatality, revolt, anger, disbelief) and that 20% were indifferent.

In our work, the family was the entourage that knew the most about the diabetic status of the respondents at 96.7%. Mosnier-Pudar et al. [21] found that 90% of the family entourage knew the diabetic status of the patient and provided assistance in the daily management of care. Consoli et al. [22] in 2016 in France, also reported this state of affairs. The family therefore plays a vital role in the management of diabetes.

The help provided by the entourage in our study consisted mainly of moral support at 58.8%, but the help with monitoring of diet, therapeutic compliance and medical follow-up was minimal.

Among our respondents, 21(13.7%) had not did not want to share their diabetic status with those around them. The reasons given by the latter were essentially the fear of stigmatization by those around them in 47.6%, followed by difficulty in accepting the disease at 23.8%. These results demonstrate the need for good disclosure of the disease with the aim of making the patient accept the disease. Similarly, good information should also be given to those around them in order to minimize stigmatization, which was reported by 16.3% of respondents.

The most common daily difficulty was diet in 36.5% of cases, followed by lack of financial means to honor drug prescriptions and follow-up assessments in 29.4% of cases. Our results contrast with those of Mosnier-Pudar et al. [21] where eating habits are most frequently and easily modified (50%). This is a problem related to adaptation to a new diet low in starch and rich in vegetables. For Mosnier-Pudar et al. [21] and Pillon et al. [20] , regular physical activity was the most common daily difficulty. Regular physical activity is a very important means in the management of diabetes.

These daily dietary difficulties were caused by dietary restrictions (75.8%). These were mainly the reduction of sugar consumption to 31.2% followed by the reduction of alcohol to 13.7%. Pillon et al. [20] had noted restrictions in sugar consumption in the order of 37.8% as well as those relating to snacking in 51.4% of patients. These different measures issued by the nursing staff have the role of promoting glycemic balance.

Apart from restrictions of any kind related to care, emotional shock and inflammatory syndrome are the cause of the cessation of professional activities as reported in 13.1% of our diabetic patients. Chambon-Amiot et al. [23] , in France in 2013, noted that 10% of work stoppages were related to diabetes and 4% to its complications. It is recommended that the hygiene and dietary measures prescribed to the patient be personalized according to their needs, preferences and values, in particular the composition of meals and the type of physical activity to be practiced. The patient’s involvement in the therapeutic decision is very essential because it promotes better adherence [13] . These different measures and advice given to patients in order to have a glycemic balance and delay the onset of somatic complications must also have a psychological component in order to reduce the impact on the morale of patients. Indeed, 109 (71.2%) of our patients had a moral impact, notably depression found in 43.8% of cases. This depression can be overcome by good therapeutic education of patients.