The Prevalence of Diabetes within the Elderly Health Examination at a Medical Centre of Southern Taiwan and Its Follow-up Health Care Plan

Abstract

Objectives: Diabetes ranks in the top four causes of death in Taiwan, and the prevalence of diabetes in adults is increasing year by year. Mortality among elderly people with diabetes is 2.5 times higher than that of the same age group. This study collected data on blood glucose records from 2,846 people undergoing medical examination for the elderly at a Medical Centre of Southern Taiwan in 2016. According to these data, a statistical analysis of the prevalence of diabetes was performed, then a follow-up health care plan was developed to assist patients with diabetics in controlling their blood sugar, further to avoid resulting in other lesions. Methods: Diagnostic criteria for diabetes in the elderly is 100mg/dl＜fasting glucose≦126mg/dl as pre-diabetes, and the fasting glucose ＞126mg/dl for diabetes. In this study, the Minitab V17 was used for basic statistical analysis, and based on the statistical level of α=0.05, Chi-square was used to test the relevant impact factors of diabetes (such as gender, waist circumference, BMI, etc.). Results: The entire elderly had the mean age of 72.1±6.4 years, of whom 50.46% were males with an average age of 72.8±6.6 years and women were 49.54% with an average age of 71.4±6.2 years. The average fasting blood glucose of these elderly was 108.5±23.6 mg/dl, with a male average of 109.4±23.4 mg/dl and a female average of 107.5±23.8 mg/dl. The proportion of prediabetes was 43.3% (1233 persons), and 13.9% (395 persons) were diabetic, both of which males were higher than females. The Chi-square test showed that the subjects had diabetes versus waist circumference and BMI with a statistically significant correlation. Conclusion: The fasting blood glucose test in the health examination can be as an indicator to diagnose whether it is a diabetic patient. In this study, 43.3% of the elderly in these analysis samples achieved pre-diabetic levels, thus it is necessary to develop a follow-up health care plan to help them control blood sugar and prevent the risk of transferring to other diseases.