A nationwide STEPwise survey to identify the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar, is expected next year, a senior official told Gulf Times on Sunday.
“The STEPwise survey was supposed to happen sometime in 2019-2020 but due to Covid-19, the programme could not be implemented," recalled Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, co-chair of the Qatar National Diabetes Committee and director of the Qatar Metabolic Institute.
"The survey will hopefully take place in 2022 and the Ministry of Public Health will soon announce details,” he said on the sidelines of a diabetes symposium at College of the North Atlantic - Qatar to mark International Diabetes Day.
“The survey, once done, will cover epidemiologically representative samples, 5,000 subjects, representing the entire Qatari population and long-term residents. It will go to all communities and representative samples will be taken. This will provide us with accurate details about the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar,” said Prof Abou-Samra.
The official said that the 2021 IDF (International Diabetes Federation) figures suggesting that 20% of the adult Qatar population as diabetic, is based on estimates and not based on any current facts and figures.
“These figures may not be actual because we do random screening here in Qatar and the figures we get, are between 16% to 20%. So, the average rate of prevalence can be about 17%-18%. As of now, the only official number is that of STEPwise survey in 2012 and we don’t have any other population-representative figures of diabetes. So, we will have to wait for the next survey to get the actual number of diabetes cases in Qatar,” he said.
According to Abou-Samra, Qatar has presently about 17% diabetes prevalence among adults and at least 25% of the adult population are pre-diabetic.
“About 42% of pregnant women suffer from gestational diabetes, the majority of whom recover after pregnancy. However, they are at a high risk for developing diabetes and their babies are at high risk for diabetes and obesity when they become adults. Again, obesity is one of the major risk factor for gestational diabetes and pregnancy complications. About 3% of the adult population in Qatar have un-diagnosed diabetes and they do not know that they are diabetic. Another 45% of the adults in Qatar have a BMI of above 30 which is one of the major reasons for diabetes in Qatar,” he said.
The official believes that efforts by the Ministry of Public Health and the government to contain diabetes will take time to get the desired results.
He said: “There is a difference between prevalence and incidence. Prevalence changes over a very long period of time of multiple generations, while incidence can change over a five year period for example. So we will see what best we can do to flatten the curve or to slow down the incidence.
“Obesity is one of the main risk factors for diabetes in Qatar as it can explain two thirds of the diabetic prevalence in Qatar. If we want to flatten the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar, we should reduce obesity first.”
“The STEPwise survey was supposed to happen sometime in 2019-2020 but due to Covid-19, the programme could not be implemented," recalled Prof Abdul-Badi Abou-Samra, co-chair of the Qatar National Diabetes Committee and director of the Qatar Metabolic Institute.
"The survey will hopefully take place in 2022 and the Ministry of Public Health will soon announce details,” he said on the sidelines of a diabetes symposium at College of the North Atlantic - Qatar to mark International Diabetes Day.
“The survey, once done, will cover epidemiologically representative samples, 5,000 subjects, representing the entire Qatari population and long-term residents. It will go to all communities and representative samples will be taken. This will provide us with accurate details about the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar,” said Prof Abou-Samra.
The official said that the 2021 IDF (International Diabetes Federation) figures suggesting that 20% of the adult Qatar population as diabetic, is based on estimates and not based on any current facts and figures.
“These figures may not be actual because we do random screening here in Qatar and the figures we get, are between 16% to 20%. So, the average rate of prevalence can be about 17%-18%. As of now, the only official number is that of STEPwise survey in 2012 and we don’t have any other population-representative figures of diabetes. So, we will have to wait for the next survey to get the actual number of diabetes cases in Qatar,” he said.
According to Abou-Samra, Qatar has presently about 17% diabetes prevalence among adults and at least 25% of the adult population are pre-diabetic.
“About 42% of pregnant women suffer from gestational diabetes, the majority of whom recover after pregnancy. However, they are at a high risk for developing diabetes and their babies are at high risk for diabetes and obesity when they become adults. Again, obesity is one of the major risk factor for gestational diabetes and pregnancy complications. About 3% of the adult population in Qatar have un-diagnosed diabetes and they do not know that they are diabetic. Another 45% of the adults in Qatar have a BMI of above 30 which is one of the major reasons for diabetes in Qatar,” he said.
The official believes that efforts by the Ministry of Public Health and the government to contain diabetes will take time to get the desired results.
He said: “There is a difference between prevalence and incidence. Prevalence changes over a very long period of time of multiple generations, while incidence can change over a five year period for example. So we will see what best we can do to flatten the curve or to slow down the incidence.
“Obesity is one of the main risk factors for diabetes in Qatar as it can explain two thirds of the diabetic prevalence in Qatar. If we want to flatten the prevalence of diabetes in Qatar, we should reduce obesity first.”
