Introduction: Population growth and increased life expectancy have contributed to the increase in the elderly population and the rise in cases of diabetes. Objective: toassess knowledge about diabetes and associated factors through a cross-sectional study with elderly diabetics in primary health care. Methods: Diabetes Knowledge Scale and the Pearson correlation coefficient were evaluated. Results: Of the 202 elderly, 77.7% had insufficient knowledge about the disease, especially for ketonuria and food substitution and did not know the causes and care of hypoglycemia. Conclusions: The findings reinforce the need for educational actions that include socioeconomic, psychoemotional, and educational aspects in managing diabetes

Diabetes Mellitus; Elderly; Knowledge; attitudes; practice; First aid source: DeCS