Abstract
Objectives: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public concern throughout the world. It is an important health problem because of its high morbidity and mortality. The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of DM among working personnel of faculty of science in Taibah University and to study some factors which may affect the disease.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in the college of science at Taibah University. 99 out of 137 subjects participated in this study with a response rate of 72.3%. Data were collected by administering a questionnaire and measuring random blood glucose level (RBG), weight and height for all participants.
Results: The prevalence of DM among working personnel in the faculty of science at Taibah University is 14.1%. Concerning diabetics, all of them are above 30 years old, 57.1% of them lived in urban regions, half of them eat fast-food more than 3 times a week and 78.6% had a family history of DM. Variables which showed statistically significant difference between diabetics and non diabetics were: age, residency, eating fast food, exercise and the family history or the genetic factors.
Conclusion: A considerable prevalence of DM is detected among working personnel in the male section of the faculty of science at Taibah University. Age, residency, eating fast food, exercise and the family history or the genetic factors showed statistically significant difference between diabetics and non diabetic personnel.