A Study of Newly Detected Diabetes Mellitus Patients among Population of Rural Field Practice Area of a Tertiary Care Centre in Maharashtra

Background: Diabetes is traditionally known as silent disease and case detection require active and opportunistic screening efforts. Diabetes is no more restricted in urban areas only but is also estab- lished at rural areas as well. Material and methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in the field practice area of a tertiary care centre. A total of 290 par- ticipants who had given written informed consent were included in the study by camp approach. WHO guideline (2006) was used for diagnosis of diabetes. People showing fasting plasma glucose >126 mg/dl or 2 hour plasma glucose >200 mg/dl were diagnosed as diabetics. Results: Proportion of newly detected diabetes observed in the study was 7.5%. The newly detected diabetes cases increased i.e. 8 out of 143 (36.7%) in participants above age of 50 years as com- pared to 1 out of 38 (4.5%) in participants in age group 20-30 years. The proportion of diabetes was more in male participants i.e. 15 in 164 (8.4%) as compared to female participants i.e. 7 in 104 (6.3%). A significant association was found between diabetes and high BMI. Conclusion: The need for awareness regarding diabetes and its risk factors in the community is needed as many hidden cases were found. High BMI is one of the risk factor for diabetes melli- tus.