PREDICTORS OF PRE – DIABETES AMONG ADULTS ABOVE 18 YEARS IN MYANMAR: A COMMUNITY BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Description

The epidemic of prediabetes is one of the most devastating public health challenges in 21st century, especially for lower and middle-income countries (CDC: 2020). The world health organization (WHO) reported that, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and impaired fasting glycaemia (IFG) are intermediate conditions in the transition between normality and diabetes. People with IGT or IFG are at high risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes (WHO fact sheet: 2018). The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of pre-diabetes and to examine their predictors among adults over 18 years and a population-based cross-sectional study was utilized, the findings of this study will guide program decisions and for informing NCD public health policy decisions. The current study results indicated that the overall prevalence of prediabetes in the study area was 14.7%, where higher prevalence was reported among female respondents (17.5%) compared to male respondents (7.3%). The study found relatively a lower prevalence rate of prediabetes when compared with earlier study conducted in Myanmar which might be as result of different interventions to tackle the increasing prevalence of prediabetes in Myanmar. Therefore, the findings in this study, may contribute to expand community-based screening and prevention of diabetes. In the present scenario, it is highly recommended to improve and expand a set of community-based intervention programs that focused on health education, counseling regarding its risk factors, modifying them along with surveillance, encouragement, and proper monitoring should be performed.