Prevalence of Pre-diabetes and Diabetes among Employees of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS)

Introduction: The increasing trend of worldwide prevalence of diabetes among adults aged 20–79 years will rise to 67 million by 2045. Lifestyle with less physical activity, certain working conditions and higher consumption of sugar and fat are related to diabetes, which in turn results in metabolic disorders. This is the first study to investigate the prevalence of pre-diabetes and diabetes among employees of SUMS.Materials & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which a total of 2300 employees (46% male, 54% female) with the age range of 30-60 years were recruited through simple random sampling method. Overnight fasting blood glucose concentration (FBS) was measured. FBS values of 100-129 and ≥130 was considered to be pre-diabetic and diabetic, respectively.Results: Our results showed that the prevalence rate of pre-diabetic and diabetic cases was 16% and 4%, respectively. The proportion of pre-diabetes in male and female employees was 54% and 46%, respectively. Also, 64% and 36% of diabetic employees were male and female, respectively. Surprisingly, 30% of employees diagnosed to be diabetic were unaware of their disorder and 70% used anti-diabetic medication. Conclusion: The prevalence rate of pre-diabetic and diabetic in our study was found to be lower than the national prevalence rate. Given the double increasing trend of diabetes in the country, lower prevalence rate in employees of the health system may be related to improved life style due to higher awareness of risk factors. This may result in controlling eating habits, diet and physical activity.