precautions taken n = 250 against diabetes mellitus
TRANSCRIPT
Diabetes Mauritius. 2012.: Diabetes Mauritius. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.gov.mu/portal/
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at: http://www.who.int/entity/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS2011_Full.pdf [Accessed on 10 July 2012-09-12].
Diabetes is a clinical conditions whereby the
pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or
when the body cannot effectively use the insulin
it produces.
Over the past two decades, the prevalence of
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in Mauritius (MRU) has
remained one of the highest in the world with
no significant improvement. In 2010, MRU
ranked 4th (16.2%) in the world and 1st in
Africa. Heart & DM Institute in Australia predicts
that in 2030 MRU will rank third with 19.8%.
There are ~120 000 diabetics in the country but
very few of those who know that they have DM
have a good control of their health.
The impact of DM on human health is alarming.
At least 80% (400) of all limb amputations done
in the country are from diabetes. It is the most
common cause of blindness in the country and
more than 50% of diabetics die of coronary
heart disease. It has been reported that about
99% of Mauritians with DM suffer from type 2.
At present, 15% of adults aged 20 years and
over have diabetes while 20% above 30 years
have the disease. Percentage of DM death over
total death has increased from 7.85%(1985) to
23.6% (2010).
400 is the number of limbs amputation carried out every year for non-traumatic cases of gangrene foot out of a population of 1.2 million. This occurs in a small island where healthcare facilities are provided free of charge in government institutions. Yet, this small island in the Indian Ocean has the
second highest prevalence of DM in the world and the first in Africa. The aim of this survey is to see how far the young generation stands from diabetes. They might be among the future diabetics patients. Diabetes lead too many dreadful complications, are those youngsters aware of this fact? If
yes, what precautions are they taking? We also wished to see whether those with a close relative suffering from diabetes are taking some preventive steps. To answer these questions and many others, a questionnaire based study was carried out. 250 youngsters (age 14 - 25 years) coming from
secondary schools across the island and tertiary institutions (UoM, UTM and SSRMC) were made to fill in a questionnaire. Their eating habits, sports activities and background knowledge about DM were inquired. The results clearly demonstrate the nibbling habits of those Mauritians – 169(68%)
eat in between breakfast and lunch, 188 (75%) in between lunch and dinner and 170 (68%) before going to bed. Surprisingly in an island with a vast economic exclusive zone, 22 % do not eat fish at all while 13% only consume fish about thrice a week. 49.2% participants eat only one fruit per day
and 13.6 % do not like fruits. Furthermore, 38.4 % said that they do not drink a cup of tea/ coffee without adding two teaspoons of sugar. A significant amount (43.2 %) affords to take out only 1 hour per week to practice some physical activities and 12.4 % seem to have no time at all. Regarding
complications of diabetics, 13.2 % clearly are ignorant about those. 67.9% agree that DM lead to eye problems, 49.6 % agreed about foot ulcers, 46.8% were aware of kidney damage and 39.2 % knew that CVS problems / MI / stroke are among the complications. 75% of the interviewees have a
family history of Diabetes. But 50.4% of the participant says they are not taking any precautions at all. The majority of those taking some precautions think that only controlling sugar intake is going to protect them from this disease. With Yates chi-square of 0.95632 (>0.384) and value of phi= 0.06, it
implies that there is no association between family history of Diabetes and those people taking preventive measures. These alarming results should be taken into consideration. Else, Mauritius will come out first worldwide with the highest prevalence of Diabetes.
Prof. Sushil Dawka, Dept of Surgery SSRMC
Dr Yannick Tangman, Dept of Maths, UoM
Parents, Family, Friends & Relatives
n = 250
Precautions taken
against Diabetes
Mellitus
FAMILY
HISTORYYES NO
Positive 97 57
Negative 60 36
Ho: Family History & taking precautions are independent
Ha: Family History & taking precautions are dependent
Yates' p-value= 0.95632 (p >0.384)
Hence Ho is not rejected
phi= 0.06
This implies very little association between the 2 Variables.
Aim: To investigate the prevalence of diabetes
among youngsters
Objectives:
To design & carry out questionnaire survey
To test the knowledge of youngsters about
diabetes, its consequences & preventive
measures
To study the eating habits of youngsters
To look for potential relationship between
family history of diabetes & extent of taking
preventive measures against diabetes
Designing survey questionnaire
Piloting testing and optimisationof questionnaire
Data collection-administration of
questionnaire
Computing and analysis of data using
SPSS software
survey detail
• Sample size : 250
• Target age group: 14 - 25 years
• Target institutions: UoM, UTM, SSRMC, CTI, secondary schools
Part I• Personal information of respondents
Part II
• Eating habits and types of food consumed
Part III
• Frequency of different types of food consumed and exercise
Part IV
• Knowledge about diabetes and relationship between family history with adopted preventive measures
A higher number of respondent has revealed to eat
or drink in between the different meals, with a
slighter higher number of respondent eating or
drinking between lunch and dinner, leading to
exhaustion of the pancreas
Fish is an important source of omega 3 fatty
acids, which reduce fat accumulation and
secretion of the hormone leptin, which has been
found to precipitate the disease. The study has
shown that the majority of youngsters (65%)
consume fish less than 3 times per week. 22% of
respondents do not consume fish at all.
Fruits reduces
stress on the
pancreas and
decrease the
risk of diabetes
(BMG, 2010).
However, the
majority of
respondents
have only 1 fruit
serving per day,
while very few
have more than
5 fruit servings.
Youngsters take commonly 1-2 teaspoons of
sugar per cup of tea or coffee, while few of
them take sugar-free tea or coffee, implying
that the consumption of sugar is quite high.
Exercise decrease blood glucose level by
increasing the rate of its intake by muscles and
prevent obesity. It can thus prevent Type II
diabetes. Most youngsters practice 1 hour of
exercise per week but there are some of them
that practice 2- >3 hours of exercise and 31
respondents have revealed to practice no
exercise at all.
The study showed that most respondents are
aware of the complications related to diabetes.
However, 33 out of the 250 respondent revealed
that they are unaware about the different
complications.
In both cases of positive
and negative family
history of Diabetes
Mellitus, a higher
number of youngsters
take precautions
against the disease.
However, this was more
significant among
youngsters having
positive family history.
The following conclusions can be drawn from the study:
• Snacking between meals is frequent among
youngsters
• Fish & fruit consumption is low among youngsters
• Majority of respondent consume too much of sugar in
their drinks
• A higher number of respondents practice only 1 hour
of exercise weekly.
• Respondents are aware about the different
complications of diabetes but there is a proportion
that has no knowledge about these.