Diabetes Mellitus: Prevalence Amongst University Staff In Southern Nigeria And Attitude Towards Routine Glycemic/Glucosuric Checkup

Abstract

The cross sectional study was carried out in a university community located in Ekpoma, a semi-urban community in southern Nigeria. Subjects were selected using the stratified random sampling. Fasting/Random blood glucose analyses were done using Trinder’s method. The study aimed at determining the prevalence of diabetes among university stuff besides attitude towards routine glycemic/glucosuric checkup. The prevalence of diabetes was 9.8% with an incidental finding (unknown) contributing 6.1%. The male/female diabetic ratio were 1.4:1 and 1.3:1 for senior staff and junior staff respectively. Only 5.9% of the study population go for routine glycemic/glucosuric checkup. The body mass indices were 25.68±30.20 kg/m² and 26.11±3.61 kg/m² for the female junior staff and female senior staff respectively (P>0.05). While the body mass indices for the male junior staff and male senior staff were 26.89±5.03 and 28.43±4.79 respectively (P>0.05). Correspondingly the mean fasting blood sugar (FBS) for junior staff and senior staff were 4.85±1.30mmol/l and 5.30±2.38mmol/l, respectively (P>0.05) indicating that the chances of developing diabetes is a function of body mass index. There is need for awareness programmes that will traverse rural, semi-urban and urban communities, emphasizing the need for traditional lifestyle especially with reference to diet, besides routine glycemic/glucosuric checkup.