Diabetes Mellitus: Risk Factors and Complications in Patients Attending Maamobi General Hospital

Abstract

Background: Unhealthy diet, smoking, physical inactivity, overweight/obesity, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fasting glycaemia (JFG) result in diabetes mellitus. The hyperglycemic condition in diabetics leads to the development of some complications driven by both modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors. This study therefore seeks to determine the risk factors and associated complications in patients with diabetes mellitus at the Maamobi General Hospital in order to help guide policies and practices in diabetic care management plans. General Aim: To determine diabetes mellitus risk factors and complications in patients attending Maamobi General Hospital. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study using a quantitative method. This Included the use of structured questionnaires. The study population included all diabetes mellitus patient attending the diabetic clinic at the Maamobi General Hospital. Simple Random Sampling Without Replacement (SRSWOR) technique was employed to select 132 diabetes mellitus patients. Information was captured on sociodemographic characteristics, behavioral risk factors c mellitus related complications. Data from the questionnaire were entered into Microsoft Excel and then transferred to STATA Version 14 for analysis. Simple proportions and means were used to describe categorical and numerical data, respectively. Chi square and Cramer's v tests were used to test for association and strength between the explanatory variables and the response variables. A confidence interval of 95% was used to show significant relations between the dependent and the independent variables. Results/Findings: The results show a high prevalence of complications with predominance of diabetic retinopathy (46.0%), followed by diabetic foot (24.0%) and erectile dysfunction (24%). The prevalence of hypertension was very high at 97.07% among the respondents. Additionally, respondents' level of commitment to physical activity and good diet is low. There was also a significant association between gender of respondents and diabetes mellitus complications where the predominance rate was high in males than females. Age, educational level, marital status and religious affiliations of the respondents were not significantly related to the complications observed. Conclusion: The study concludes that there is a high prevalence of diabetes mellitus complications and hypertension comorbidity among diabetes patients at the Maamobi General Hospital. The study calls for regular medical screening of complications to prevent progression.