THE PREVALENCE OF DIABETES-MELLITUS AND IMPAIRED GLUCOSE-TOLERANCE INTHE POPULATION OF AL-BABA, SAUDI-ARABIA

Objective: We initiated an extensive investigation at national level t o determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in different parts of Saudi Arabia. This paper presents our findings in the Al-Baha populati on. Material and methods: A total of 2060 samples were collected from male and female Saudis during a household screening program. Body Mass Index (BMI) was obtained for each fasting individual and two hour ''p ost glucose load'' blood samples were collected from all members of th e families 2-70 years of age, and blood glucose was estimated immediat ely. Diagnosis of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance was based on the World Health Organization criteria. Diabetic patients were subgro uped as insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and non-insulin dep endent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) on the basis of age of onset and mode of treatment. Results and discussion: Our results showed an overall p revalence of 7.087% for diabetes mellitus (IDDM: 0.194% and NIDDM: 6.8 9%) and 0.777% for IGT. When the children (< 14 years)were separated t he prevalence increased to 10.63% for DM (IDDM: 0.166% and NIDDM: 10.4 65%) and 0.664% for IGT in the adult males and 13.497% for DM (IDDM: 0 .306%, NIDDM 13.19%) and 1.227% for IGT in adult females. Further grou ping into age groups of 14-29; 30-44; 45-60 and > 60 years showed a si gnificant increase in the prevalence of DM with age, both in the males and females (p < 0.05). Of the diabetic males and females, 11.76% and 46.15% respectively were obese with BMI greater than or equal to 35 w hile 38.2% diabetic males and 27.47% diabetic females were overweight with BMI between 30-34. This paper presents our findings among the pop ulation of Al-Baha region and shows that diabetes mellitus is a seriou s health problem in the adult male and female population of Al-Baba. T he need for active program to improve awareness is stressed in an atte mpt to achieve control of diabetes mellitus.