Prevalence and determinants of diabetes among older adults in Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundDiabetes is one of the leading non-communicable diseases in Africa, contributing to the increasing disease burden among the old adults. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and determinants of diabetes among adults aged 50 years and above in Ghana.MethodsA cross sectional study based on data collected from Study of Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1 from 2007 to 2008. Data was collected from 5565 respondents of whom 4135 were aged 50+ years identified using a multistage stratified clusters design. Bivariate and hierarchical multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the association of the determinants and diabetes.ResultsThe weighted prevalence of diabetes among the adults aged 50 years and above in Ghana was 3.95% (95% Confidence Interval: 3.35–4.55) with the prevalence being insignificantly higher in females than males (2.16%, 95% CI: 1.69–2.76 vs. 1.73%, 95% CI: 1.28–2.33). Low level of physical activity (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 2.11, 95% CI: 1.21–3.69) and obesity (AOR 4.81, 95% CI: 1.92–12.0) were associated with increased odds of diabetes among women while old age (AOR 2.58, 95% CI: 1.29–5.18) and university (AOR 12.8, 95% CI: 4.20–39.1), secondary (AOR 3.61, 95% CI: 1.38–9.47) and primary education (AOR 2.71, 95% CI: 1.02–7.19) were associated with increased the odds of diabetes among men.ConclusionThe prevalence of diabetes among old adults shows a similar trend with that of the general population. However, the prevalence may have been underestimated due to self-reporting and a high rate of undiagnosed diabetes. In addition, the determinants of diabetes among older adults are a clear indication of the need for diabetes prevention programme targeting the young people and that are gender specific to reduce the burden of diabetes at old age. Physical activity and nutrition should be emphasised in any prevention strategy.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus among the elderly in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo: prevalence, clinical features and complications

“…Nevertheless, in a study conducted in Ghana, there was no statistically significant difference between prevalence of diabetes mellitus among elderly residents of rural areas versus those living in urban areas [9]. In our study, we did not find an association between marital status and the prevalence of diabetes, this association was found in other studies in Africa [7][8][9][10].…”

“…In our study, we did not find an association between marital status and the prevalence of diabetes, this association was found in other studies in Africa [7][8][9][10]. This can be explained by the fact that married seniors are most often conscientious in the face of different medical recommendations than those who live alone.…”

“…The prevalence of diabetes among elderly in our series was comparable to the range of the prevalence of diabetes in rural South African community (5 to 8.8%) [11]. Nevertheless, the prevalence rate was higher in comparison to Ghana and Nigeria, and lower in comparison to Kenya, which could be due to differences in population size, exposures to risk factors and study designs [9,10,[17][18][19][20] respectively. This is a pattern observed in other studies in Africa, which could reflect the ageing population in Africa [8,17].…”

“…Indeed, in other settings, old age was found to be associated with increased risk of diabetes only among males [9]. This association could be explained by the cumulative effect of early life exposure to biological, social and behavioural determinants of diabetes [21].…”

“…Despite the demographic transition occurring in Africa, few studies have focused on understanding the magnitude of diabetes among older adults in specific countries [7,8]. For instance, the prevalence of diabetes has been estimated to be between 3.4 to 4.6%, 7.7 to 20%, and 5 to 8.8% for adults aged 50 years and more in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa respectively [9][10][11]. In addition, more diabetic people live in urban than in rural areas [12].…”