Prevalence and risk factors of diabetes mellitus among adults in Jaffna District

A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out to determine the prevalence and risk factors of diabetes mellitus among adults in Jaffna District. Multistage stratified cluster sampling technique was employed to select 544 participants. An interviewer administrated questionnaire was used. Anthropometric and blood pressure (BP) measurements were recorded and biochemical parameters were analysed. Response rate was 95.3%. Of them, 224 (43.8%) were male. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 16.4% (95% CI: 13.3-19.9); in males 19.6% (95% CI: 14.6-25.4) and in females 13.9% (95% CI: 10.1-18.5). Of the diabetics, 27.4% were previously undiagnosed. In the final multivariable model, participants with family history of diabetes were 3.5 times (p<0.001) more likely and those with high waist hip ratio were 2 times (p=0.009) more likely to develop diabetes mellitus.