Prevalence, treatment, and control of diabetes in a community setting in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon

Diabetes imposes a heavy economic burden on low and middle-income countries. The aim of this work was to study the mean value of fasting blood glucose, as well as of the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes in Ngaoundere.

This cross-sectional community-based study selected participants according to a three-level cluster sampling method. The variables measured were sociodemographic data, medical history, sleep duration, blood pressure, body mass index, abdominal perimeter, fasting blood glucose, and serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels. Data were analyzed with SPSS 20.0 software.

The study included 948 participants aged 20 to 87 years. Their average fasting blood glucose was 0.85 ± 0.20 g/L. The prevalence of diabetes was 5.59%. It increased with age (p < 0.001), body mass index (p = 0.03), abdominal obesity (p = 0.041), hypertension (p < 0.001), and total cholesterol (p = 0.008). In the multivariate analysis, age greater than or equal to 65 years (p = 0.012) and hypertension (p = 0.001) were independently associated with diabetes. Most patients with diabetes (84.91%) were aware of their disease, but only 13.33% were receiving treatment, and the disease of only 50% of those treated was controlled.

In Ngaoundere, the prevalence of diabetes is 5.59 %, its control is poor, and its treatment rate is low.