Scientific Reports (Mar 2023)

Type 2 diabetes prevalence, awareness, and risk factors in rural Mali: a cross-sectional study

  • Abdoulaye Diawara,
  • Djibril Mamadou Coulibaly,
  • Talib Yusuf Abbas Hussain,
  • Cheickna Cisse,
  • Jian Li,
  • Mamadou Wele,
  • Mahamadou Diakite,
  • Kassim Traore,
  • Seydou O. Doumbia,
  • Jeffrey G. Shaffer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29743-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract Diabetes is currently a crisis in sub-Saharan West Africa (SSWA) with dramatic implications for public health and national budgets prioritizing infectious diseases. There is limited recent literature about the prevalence, awareness, and risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in rural parts of SSWA. This study characterized T2D prevalence and risk factors for the rural Malian community of Nièna, which is situated in Mali’s second-largest province of Sikasso. Between December 2020 and July 2021, a cross-sectional study of 412 participants was conducted in the Nièna community using clinical questionnaires and rapid diagnostic tests. Among 412 participants, there were 143 (34.7%) and 269 (65.3%) males and females, respectively. The overall prevalence of T2D in Nièna was 7.5% (31/412), and prevalence rates were 8.6% (23/269) and 5.6% (8/143) for females and males, respectively. Age, family history of diabetes, hypertension, waist circumference, and fetal macrosomia were significantly associated with T2D (p = 0.007, p < 0.001, p = 0.003, p = 0.013, and p < 0.001, respectively). Notably, 61.3% (19/31) of T2D subjects were unaware of their diabetic status before the study. Field surveys have considerable utility in driving T2D awareness in rural African settings.