Association of Diabetes Mellitus with ABO Blood Groups & Rh with

Abstract

Studies have observed an association between ABO blood group and risk for obesity. Objective: to evaluate the prevalence of DM in various ABO and Rh blood group subjects, and to explore any association between ABO and Rh blood groups with DM. Methods: A cross-sectional study, conducted in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia. It included 312 participants from the general population of Northern Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by a pre-designed online questionnaire which was distributed among the population. It was self-administered, after a brief explanation of the idea of the research. The questionnaire included the clear questions to collect the relevant data. Results: the study included 532 participants, 318 (59.8%) were males and 119(22.4%) were suffering from diabetes mellitus. Surprisingly, more than half the cases were Type 1 diabetics (53.8%). The majority (38.7%) of the studied population had O blood group, 26.1% had B, and 23.5% had A, while AB were only observed in 11.8%. Around three-quarters (74.8%) were Rh positive and 23.5% were hypertensive. The results showed insignificant relations between ABO blood group with gender, DM and type of DM. There was a highly significant relation between DM and (Rh) blood group, while it showed insignificant relations between gender and type of DM with (Rh) blood group. Conclusion: The finding of the present study indicated that, in Arar city population, no evidence was found that particular ABO blood group was more susceptible to develop diabetes mellitus. While the study showed a highly significant relation between DM and (Rh) blood groups.