Fasting blood glucose level and its association with sex, body mass index and blood pressure: a cross sectional study on a Bangladeshi public university students

Abstract

Background: In resource-limited countries like Bangladesh, there is a scarcity of epidemiological researches examining the relationship of blood glucose level with hypertension and BMI among the graduate level students. This research was therefore undertaken to evaluate fasting blood glucose levels of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University students and to check its associations with sex, body mass index (BMI) and hypertension. Methods: For the study the 240 students (120 male and 120 female) were randomly selected. The demographic data of the study subjects were collected by interviewing the subjects with standardized questionnaires. Their fasting blood glucose levels were measured using portable blood glucose meter. The BMI and blood pressure of the subjects were also recorded following standard protocol. Finally the data were analyzed with SPSS software. Results: The fasting blood glucose levels of the study subjects indicated that 0.4% of subjects were diabetic and, 5.4% of subjects were pre-diabetic. The blood glucose levels (mean±SE) of female subjects (4.88±0.07) were higher than that of the male (4.61±0.04) subjects. The mean blood glucose levels of hypertensive subjects (4.81±0.07 mmol/L) were higher than that of the normotensive counterpart (4.73±0.05 mmol/L). The fasting blood glucose levels shows significant positive associations with SBP (r=0.155, p<0.05) and DBP (r=0.149, p<0.05).The fasting blood glucose levels also showed a significant positive association with the BMI (r=0.193, p<0.01) of the subjects. Conclusions: This study reveals the diabetic and hypertension status of the Bangladeshi graduate level students. The result of the study is very important in the context of public concern health of Bangladesh.