Abstract

Objective: To study the relationship between body mass index (BMI), gender, age, family history and incidence of diabetes mellitus. Methods: A total of 445 human subjects volunteered to participate in this study. They were divided into two groups, the test group (diabetics) containing 224 subjects and the control (nondiabetics) containing 221 subjects. Samples (blood and urine) were collected from the subjects on their normal diabetic clinic visit for check-up. The family history and other related data of subjects were obtained from their hospital case note and through the research questionnaire. Analysis was done to determine the blood sugar concentration in both groups. Their weight, height, waist circumference, mid-arm circumference and hip circumference were measured to determine their BMI. Results: The mean age was significant (P < 0.01) at 50 years and above. Diabetes mellitus was significantly (P < 0.01) higher among the females. The range of the BMI was between < 20 kg/m2 and > 40 kg/m2. The diabetics had a higher BMI than the control subjects in all the BMI ranges used (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001) except those in the 30–39 kg/m2 BMI range. The diabetics had significantly higher fasting and random blood sugar concentration (P < 0.01) than the nondiabetics. The result on family history showed that 42.5% of the diabetics had no idea of the history of diabetes in their family, 32.14% had first degree relatives with diabetes, and 25% of them had no family history of diabetics. Conclusions: BMI, female gender, advancing age and positive family history were all directly correlated with the incidence of diabetes mellitus.

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