Publication:

Family history of diabetes, hypertension, obesity and cardiovascular diseases in relation to self health-care

Background To assess the prevalence of family history of DM, HT, CVD, and obesity and determine the methods of self-health care among participants with and without a FH of these disease(s). Self-testing methods such as screening for chronic metabolic diseases and lifestyle modifications were focused on.

Methods A cross-sectional study including 1000 participants above 18 years of age and a self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data. The association was assessed using the Chi-square test. Logistic regression was used to determine the degree of association. P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. An informed consent was taken from all participants and ethics approval obtained from International Review of Boards Committee.

Results Results showed 44.8% with a FH of DM, 49.1% with hypertension, 21.9% with CVD and 17.3% with obesity. The OR showed that the likelihood of testing for FBG (OR=5, p<0.001 those with four FH compared to no FH), Cholesterol (OR=2.4, p<0.01 those with four FH compared to no FH), BP (OR=2.5, p<0.05 those with four FH compared to no FH), ECG (OR=2.1, p<0.01 those with four FH compared to no FH) and BMI (OR=7.7, p<0.001 those with four FH compared to no FH).

Conclusions Participants with more FH of disease were more likely to test for glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, electrocardiograms and body mass index.