School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, University Road, Westville, Private Bag X54001, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
School of Data Science and Analytics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, 30144, USA.
J Health Popul Nutr. 2022 Mar 2;41(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s41043-022-00281-2.
Diabetes prevalence, as well as that of pre-diabetes, is rapidly increasing in South Africa. Individuals with pre-diabetes have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is reversible with a change in lifestyle. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to serious health complications. Our objective was to assess the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes, and to investigate the associated risk factors of each in the South African population.
This study made use of the South African Demographic Health Survey 2016 data. The study participants included 6442 individuals aged 15 years and older. A generalized additive mixed model was employed to account for the complex survey design of the study as well as well spatial autocorrelation in the data.
The observed prevalence of pre-diabetes and diabetes was 67% and 22%, respectively. Among those who had never been tested for diabetes prior to the survey, 10% of females and 6% of males were found to be diabetic, and 67% of both males and females were found to be pre-diabetic. Thus, a large proportion of the South African population remains undiagnosed. The model revealed both common and uncommon factors significantly associated with pre-diabetes and diabetes. This highlights the importance of considering diabetic status as a three-level categorical outcome, rather than binary. In addition, significant interactions between some of the lifestyle factors, demographic factors and anthropometric measures were revealed, which indicates that the effects each these factors have on the likelihood of an individual being pre-diabetic or diabetic is confounded by other factors.
The risk factors for diabetes and pre-diabetes are many and complicated. Individuals need to be aware of their diabetic status before health complications arise. It is therefore important for all stakeholders in government and the private sector of South Africa to get involved in providing education and creating awareness about diabetes. Regular testing of diabetes, as well as leading a healthy lifestyle, should be encouraged.
糖尿病患病率以及糖尿病前期患病率在南非迅速上升。糖尿病前期患者患 2 型糖尿病的风险很高，通过生活方式的改变可以逆转。如果不加以治疗，糖尿病可能会导致严重的健康并发症。我们的目的是评估南非人群中糖尿病和糖尿病前期的患病率，并探讨每种疾病的相关危险因素。
本研究利用了 2016 年南非人口健康调查的数据。研究参与者包括 6442 名年龄在 15 岁及以上的个体。使用广义加性混合模型来考虑研究的复杂调查设计以及数据中的空间自相关。
观察到的糖尿病前期和糖尿病的患病率分别为 67%和 22%。在那些在调查前从未接受过糖尿病检测的人中，10%的女性和 6%的男性被诊断为糖尿病，而 67%的男性和女性被诊断为糖尿病前期。因此，很大一部分南非人口仍未被诊断出来。该模型揭示了与糖尿病前期和糖尿病显著相关的常见和不常见因素。这强调了将糖尿病状态视为三水平分类结果而不是二元结果的重要性。此外，还揭示了一些生活方式因素、人口统计学因素和人体测量指标之间的显著相互作用，这表明这些因素对个体患糖尿病前期或糖尿病的可能性的影响是相互混淆的。
糖尿病和糖尿病前期的危险因素很多且复杂。在健康并发症出现之前，个人需要了解自己的糖尿病状态。因此，南非政府和私营部门的所有利益相关者都应该参与提供有关糖尿病的教育和提高认识。应该鼓励定期检测糖尿病，并倡导健康的生活方式。
