Awareness and attitude toward diabetes in the rural population of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

BACKGROUND: India has the largest number of patients with diabetes in the world, accounting for more than 50 million subjects. There are limited studies on diabetes awareness, attitude, and prevalence in rural communities, especially in the northeastern part of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based survey using the STEPS questionnaire with recording of blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose, waist circumference, and height was conducted among the residents of Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. A door-to-door survey was conducted in each village, and members above the age of 25 years from each household were considered eligible to participate. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The awareness of diabetes in the study population was found to be as low as 21%. Majority of subjects (58%) had a normal BMI and adequate physical activity (88%). The prevalence of smoking (72%) and alcohol consumption (49%) was found to be very high amongst the study population. Blood glucose screening revealed that 13% had impaired fasting glucose and 6% had impaired glucose tolerance.