Effective diabetes management requires adequate knowledge, positive attitudes, and consistent self-management practices. However, limited research has explored these dimensions among elderly women in Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for this study. The target population comprise of elderly women who are diabetic and attending State Hospital. Multi-Stage sampling technique was used to select 53 respondents from the total population.  Instrument for data collectionwas self–structured questionnaire which consisted of five sections (A-E).Data analysis was carried out using SPSS package version 26, presented in percentages, frequencies and tables. Chi-square was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. Findings revealed that majority of respondents are Islamists (37.7%), with a monthly income of 60,000-99,999 (43.5%), has two births (32.1%) and living with spouse (35.8%). This study indicate that the level of knowledge of diabetes among elderly women in State Hospital Oyo is average (52.8%), their attitude is positive (56.6%) and their level of self-management practices is poor (30.6%). Three hypotheses were tested and Hypothesis 1 reveals that there was no significant relationship between knowledge of diabetes and self-management practices (χ² = 7.731, P= .102). Hypothesis 2 shows that there was no significant relationship between attitude and self-management practices (χ² = 8.876, P = .012). Hypothesis 3 indicated that there was no significant relationship between age and diabetes self-management practices among the respondents. (χ² = 6.393, P = 0.381,). Elderly women in Oyo exhibited moderate knowledge, positive attitudes toward care on diabetes but poor self-management. This underscores the need for culturally adapted diabetes self-management education (DSME) programs emphasizing behavioral reinforcement and psychosocial support.

Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Self -Management Practices, Elderly Women, Diabetes,

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