Prevalence of Type II Diabetes Mellitus in Over 30 Year Old Population of Rafsanjan City in the Year 2000

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most widespread metabolic disease and a major risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. Life expectancy is reduced up to 25% in type II diabetic patients. Mortalities are mostly due to cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. The present study was planned to determine the prevalence of DM in Rafsanjan city in the year 2000 since there was no previous study showing the prevalence of this problem in this city. This was a cross sectional study that carried out on over 30 year old people who were living in Rafsnajan city. By the stratified random sampling technique, 756 people were selected and entered into the study. A questionnaire which has been already designed was completed by interviewing the subjects. Anthropometric indexes were also measured. A Fasting blood sample was collected and criteria of WHO and ADA was used for diagnosis of DM. Obesity was determined by calculation of the body mass index (BMI). Inorder to investigate the association between variables x2 test was used. The findings showed that the point prevalence of diabetes mellitus was %14.7 according to WHO criteria and 19.1% according to ADA criteria. It should be mentioned that the DM prevalence was higher in women than men (19.1% versus 8.6%). The prevalence of the DM increased by increasing the age of the subjects. However, this association was not significant. There was a significant association between diabetes mellitus and women’s job (P=0.005). This study indicated that prevalence of diabetes could be considered as a health problem in this city. The extent of this problem justifies implementation of an interventional approach on the people’s lifestyle.