Relating Glycemia Levels in a Zimbabwean Population to some established Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors using Multiple LinearRegression Analysis
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Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Archives of Applied Science Research
Abstract
Chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and asthma are somewhat neglected in the field of medicine in favour of the more ‘classic’ infections such as HIV/AIDS,and tuberculosis. The overall worldwide prevalence of diabetes is gradually increasing and is mainly associated with many chronic vascular complications such as stroke, foot ulceration and coronary artery disease. For this reason a multiple linear regression model is proposed that will provide insights into the major risk factors of Type 2 diabetes. Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between glycemia and some established Type 2 diabetes risk factors; in particular, stress, age, obesity, gender, and hypertension using multiple linear regression in the Zimbabwean population. Methods: The method consists of collecting data using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 300 individuals selected from a population through the “haphazard” sampling technique. In this study we considered Type 2 diabetes
because our assessment of glycemia was based on portable glucometer readings. We then
develop a statistical model to predict glucose levels. Results: Two predictor variables age and body mass index were found to be significant in the model. Results show an overwhelming
evidence of a strong relationship between age, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Conclusion: Our findings are in agreement with results from Sudan in Africa and also observations from affluentsocieties. However, these findings differ significantly from other African experiences such as Kenya. Without loss of generality, it is concluded that obesity and advancing age are major contributors of Type 2 diabetes.
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Keywords
Non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular, adults, obesity, blood specimens