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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Edward B. Jernigan, MPH and Theresa J. McCann, PhD, MPH. School of Medicine, Department of Public Health, St. George's University, P.O. Box 7, University Centre, St. George's, Grenada, 473-444-4175, edwardjernigan@hotmail.com
Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major health concern in populations of the West Indies but little has been reported about the burden of diabetes in Grenada. This study describes the nature of diabetes within the population of Grenada using data gathered under the auspices of a labor force and health ministry household survey conducted in 1997 by the Grenada Ministry of Finance. Fifteen hundred households were surveyed, producing an overall sample size of 3041 (children under 16 years old were excluded from the present analysis). Self-reported prevalence of diabetes was estimated to be 6.4%. Association with established risk factors was determined. Results showed that positive family history (first degree relative) produced a 9-fold greater prevalence than negative family history (18% versus 2%), obesity (BMI>30) produced a 50% higher prevalence than non-obesity (9% versus 6%), and high-BMI (>25) produced a more than 2-fold greater prevalence than low-BMI (4% versus 9%). Other positive risk factors were female gender and advanced age. The results indicated that Grenada shows many similarities to other West Indian nations (notably Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados) in terms of the burden of diabetes within the population, but differences may be due to shortcomings with respect to collection and analysis of data in this study. This research may serve as a starting point for further inquiry into the financial impact of diabetes on the nation's health care system and provide insight into the effectiveness of current efforts aimed at managing and improving disease outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Diabetes, Risk Taking Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.