One in 10 has diabetes

Incidence of diabetes on upward swing:

Disna Mudalige

One person in 10 adults have diabetes in Sri Lanka, a recent study by the Colombo University Medical Faculty has revealed.

This study was carried out covering all parts of Sri Lanka except the North and East. A sample of 5,000 people of age 20 years or more were taken for this research.

"The prevalence of diabetes for Sri Lankans of or above 20 years was 10.2 percent. It was 9.8 percent for males and 10.7 percent for females. Among diabetes subjects 36 percent were previously undiagnosed," Colombo University Medical Faculty Clinical Medicine Department Senior Lecturer Dr Prasad Katulanda said.

"This shows that the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes are high among Sri Lankan adults with more than one third with diabetes undiagnosed. Over 40 percent of people above 70 years have diabetes, while 70 percent of people over 70 years have either diabetes or pre-diabetes," he said. He said diabetes prevalence was very high in urban areas compared to the rural population.

This amounts to one in every five in urban areas. "The prevalence of pre-diabetes was 11.4 percent. Overall 21.6 percent had some form of dysglycaemia or blood sugar metabolism disorder. The projected diabetes prevalence for 2030 is 13.9 percent.

Therefore public health programs to diagnose diabetes, prevent and clinical care are urgently needed", he said.

Dr Katulanda said those with diabetes and pre-diabetes compared to normal glucose tolerance were older, urban physically inactive and frequently had a family history of diabetes.

This project was funded by the National Science Foundation.

This research was conducted by Prof Rezvi Sheriff, Dr Prasad Katulanda and Dr Godwin Constantine.