The Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Rural Population in Puducherry.

Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Puducherry.

Abstract

Background: Diabetes is traditionally known as a “silent disease,” exhibiting no symptoms until it progresses to severe target organ damage. Case detection, therefore, requires active and opportunistic screening efforts. The shift in epidemiology from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases indicates that the rural population is also at a high-risk for developing diabetes mellitus.  Aims & Objective: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural community. Material and Methods: A Community based cross-sectional study was conducted at Villiyanoor block of Puducherry district. The three villages were selected randomly by systematic sampling method in the age group of 40-60 years. The study 400 subjects from the three villages. Random blood glucose was determined by glucometer. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. Results: The mean age of the study participants were 49.8.years ±7.5 SD. Majority (74.5%) were females and rest (25.5%) were males. Over all the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was found to be 37 (9.3%) out of which 6 (1.5%) participants were newly diagnosed as diabetes and 57 (14.2%) of them had prediabetes. The mean systolic blood pressure was significantly higher among the diabetes as compared to other groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Diabetes prevalence seems to be increasing in rural population of Puducherry as compared to the previous study findings. Interventions focusing on promoting a healthy life style is an effective strategy to control the diabetes epidemic in rural areas.