Acute Complications of Diabetes Among Pilgrims During Hajj 2017: A Brief Report

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes mellitus (DM) was reported as one of the most common non-communicable diseases during Hajj. However, few studies evaluated acute complications of DM during Hajj. Therefore, this study aims to explore the most common acute complications among pilgrims with DM during Hajj 2017 and its clinical presentations. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Data were collected using an anonymous questionnaire from the database of pilgrims with DM, who sought medical care in mobile clinics in Mina during the peak period of Hajj from 31 August to 4 September 2017. Data were entered afterwards into an Excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: In this study, a total of 281 pilgrims were recruited, male to female ratio 3:1. Out of 281 pilgrims, 199 (70.8%) had foot injuries, 77 (27.4%) had hyperglycemia, and 37 (13.2%) had hypoglycemia, noting that some of them presented with more than one complication. Most of the participants who developed foot injuries, presented with redness (28.8%) and bullous (20.6%). The most reported symptoms among hyperglycemic pilgrims were polydipsia (17.1%) and dry mouth (16.4%). Also, the most reported symptoms of hypoglycemia were fatigue (14.9%) and headache (12.5%). In addition, pilgrims with type 2 DM reported a higher rate of acute complications compared to type 1 DM (81.8% versus 18.2%, p = 0.33). CONCLUSION: The most common acute complication of diabetes during Hajj is foot injury. Pilgrims who suffered from hyperglycemia presented mainly with polydipsia, while those who developed hypoglycemia presented mainly with fatigue. There was no statistically significant difference according to the association between the type of diabetes and the occurrence of acute complications.