Assessment of incidence and predicting the risk of diabetes mellitus in a rural village of Tamil Nadu state

A cross-sectional door-to-door home survey was conducted in the village of Nelvoy in Vellore District of Tamil Nadu to assess 9 standard factors governing the incidence and prediction of the risk of Diabetes Mellitus in the village. A structured questionnaire was delivered to a sample of 100 people (65 female and 35 male) in a village with a population of about 1700 people. Sociological, physiological and bio-technical (medical) data was collected and analyzed using statistical methods against standard medical classifications of various factors. The Study reports its findings for each of the 9 factors related to prevalence of diabetes in this population. While 14% of the population of the village of Nelvoy lies in the category of Established Cases of diabetes mellitus, another 9% are already in pre-diabetic stage. Almost half (47%) of the village population are either overweight or obese, with females exceeding males in the overweight/obese category and hence are at high risk of diabetes. Young adults are in the most danger of acquiring diabetes in the coming years.