The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its risk factors among non-governmental organization drivers in Blantyre, Malawi
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Date
2020-12-01
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
The health status of professional motor vehicle drivers potentially affects public safety. Continued exposure to stress and sitting for long periods increase the risk of obesity and hypertension in professional drivers. We adapted the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance tool to conduct a district based cross-sectional survey between October to December 2020 among professional drivers of non-governmental organization institutions aged 25 -65 years. The prevalence of raised impaired blood glucose was 6.4% (N= 6) among the drivers. Female drivers were 0.91 times less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than their male counterparts. The mean Body Mass Index for the drivers was 5.39 kg/m2 (95% CI 24.2-26.6). Raised blood pressure was observed in 19 drivers (20.2%). Drivers with high blood pressure were more likely to be diabetic than those with optimal blood pressure levels. (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 3.98 - 25.07). The mean total blood cholesterol, including those currently on medication for raised cholesterol was determined at 6.4 mmol/L (95% CI, 6.0-6.7,). We found the prevalence of raised cholesterol to be 44% (N= 41) among the drivers. Drivers of motor vehicles have a disproportionately high prevalence of diabetes mellitus from national average estimates. Promotion of a healthy lifestyle, workplace diabetes awareness, screening, and treatment programs could prevent and control this public health problem among drivers.