Prevalence and knowledge of risk factors for diabetes mellitus among secondary school teachers in Abakaliki Educational Zone, Nigeria

Background: Teachers play an important role in delivering health education to empower students with skills for healthy living pertinent to prevent the development of non-communicable diseases. The development of non-communicable disease like hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cancers is highly associated with modifiable lifestyle. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of self-reported Diabetes Mellitus, knowledge of its risk factors as well as risk factors among secondary school teachers in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 282 secondary school teachers selected through multistage sampling technique using a self-administered pre-tested questionnaire for data collection. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 21 to determine associations between socio-demographic variables and knowledge of the risk factors for diabetes mellitus. Results: The prevalence of self-reported diabetes mellitus among the teachers was 3.5%. The knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus was generally poor as about 60% of respondents were categorized as having poor knowledge and 4.9% of them had glycosuria while majority 172 (61.0%) reported family history of Diabetes Mellitus. More than half (58.5%) reported not engaging in any form of physical exercise and more than half were considered overweight/obese. There was statistically significant relationship between family history and general knowledge of diabetes mellitus risk factors, (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Knowledge of risk factors of diabetes mellitus was poor among the teachers, and there is urgent need for orientation towards routine screening for diabetes mellitus for this group of professionals who are strategic for education of teenagers.