Prevalence and Risk Factors of Type II Diabetes Mellitus in Apparently Healthy Adults in Buea Health District

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a leading public health issue associated with increasing prevalence, morbidity, and the potential for life-threatening complications if poorly controlled. Its insidious nature often leads to undiagnosed cases, which motivated this community-based cross-sectional study to ascertain the prevalence and associated risk factors of T2DM among apparently healthy adults in the Buea Health District. The study was conducted between March and May 2022 in four health areas in which a total of 384 participants aged 40 years and older were randomly selected. Diabetes was defined by fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycated hemoglobin, and self-administered questionnaires were utilized to obtain lifestyle and body mass index (BMI) information. Statistical analysis (e.g., Chi-square, logistic regression) was performed and significance was set at p < 0.05. As results, we found a diabetes prevalence of 6% (23 participants) with a mean FBG of 116 ±4.7 mg/dl and a pre-diabetes prevalence of 11.46% (44 participants) with a mean FBG of 106 ±2.5 mg/dl. Similarly, marital status (p = 0.01) had a significant impact on FBG, where the mean value of FBG among singles was significantly higher (92.70 ±11.94 mg/dl) than married participants (89.13 ±12 mg/dl). Moreover, T2DM were strongly correlated with sex (p = 0.02), overweight and obesity (p < 0.001), diet (p = 0.01) and alcohol intake (p = 0.03). The study found a relatively higher prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the participant population with many those surveyed being overweight/obese and consuming alcohol.