Background  
Diabetes is an iceberg disease and is one of the most widespread non-communicable diseases in the world. Around 463 million people were reported to have diabetes in 2019 and the numbers continue to escalate. It is expected that by 2045, around 700 million people will be diabetic. In India, around 77 million people in the age group of 20-79 years were reported to be diabetic in the year 2019 (IDF, 2019). It was worrisome to know that more than 57% of type 2 diabetes cases remain undiagnosed. 

Aim  
The study was planned to assess knowledge about diabetes and actual diabetes risk in university teaching staff from Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

Method  
All the teaching staff of the university in Vadodara, Gujarat, India were emailed the link to a self-administered questionnaire prepared using Google forms. Around 194 non-diabetic subjects agreed to participate in the study and completed the questionnaire. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to assess knowledge about diabetes symptoms, risk factors, preventive factors, and complications. Actual diabetes risk for 147 subjects was calculated using the International Diabetes Federation diabetes risk assessment tool (https://www.idf.org/type-2-diabetes-risk-assessment/). Appropriate statistical analysis was done on the collected information. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee for Human Research ( IECHR/FCSc/2020/49). 

Results  
Most of the subjects were aware about what diabetes is, but awareness regarding diabetes risk factors, symptoms, complications and preventive factors, was lacking. Around 72.7% and 65% subjects respectively were not aware that older age and high blood pressure are risk factors for diabetes. Around 40.7%, 36.1%, 30.9%, 24.2%, 50.5% and 44.8% of the subjects respectively were not aware about foot problems, heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease, hypertension and stroke being complications associated with diabetes and 57.5% of the subjects were not aware that quitting smoking could reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Based on IDF diabetes risk scores, only 32% of the subjects fell in the low-risk category. Around 41.4%, 17.7% and 8.8% of the subjects respectively were in the slightly elevated risk, moderate risk and high risk categories. Diabetes risk scores were found to vary significantly across the categories of BMI (p=0.000), across age group (p=0.04), and with a family history of diabetes(p&lt; 0.001). Unsurprisingly, among most of the subjects in the high risk, moderate risk and slightly elevated risk categories, BMI was found to be greater than 23 Kg/m(2) (p-value=0.000).

Discussion  
There is a dire need to generate awareness about diabetes, its risk factors, symptoms, complications, and preventive factors in the general population. Educating people about risk factors for diabetes may promote more accurate perception of diabetes risk. Awareness campaigns using appropriate educational materials need to be conducted to sensitise the people about making healthy lifestyle choices which may aid in preventing the development of chronic conditions like diabetes.

 

References  
International Diabetes Federation. IDF Diabetes Atlas, 9th edn. Brussels, Belgium: 2019. Available at: https://www.diabetesatlas.org



Diabetes Knowledge and Actual Diabetes Risk in University Teaching Staff from Vadodara, Gujarat, India