Publication:

Study on the impact of family history of diabetes among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in an urban area of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a commonly occurring chronic non communicable disease. Family history of diabetes is one of the important non modifiable risk factor for occurrence of the disease. This study was done to assess the percentage of positive family history of diabetes among T2DM patients and its association with age of onset and complications of diabetes.

Methods This is a descriptive cross sectional study done in an urban health training centre of a medical college. Using purposive sampling technique, 215 diabetic patients were selected as study participants. Data collection was done by structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS 17.

Results Among the study participants, 62.3% were females. The mean age of the participants was 56.08±10.04. Nearly 68.8% of T2DM patients had family history of Diabetes, among them 25.1% of them had diabetic mother and 15.3% had diabetic father. Among the study group of T2DM patients, 51.6% had diabetic complications. The family history of diabetes with age of onset and complications had statistically significant association among the study group.

Conclusions This study shows that persons with positive family history of diabetes are more prone to early onset of diabetes and developing complications. So appropriate behavioural changes and modification must be practiced to delay or prevent the occurrence of the disease. Early diagnosis and treatment is a must to prevent the complications in the vulnerable people.