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. 2018 Jun 5;18(1):694.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5607-2.

Prevalence and factors associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension among the hill tribe elderly populations in northern Thailand

Tawatchai Apidechkul  1   2
Affiliations

Prevalence and factors associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension among the hill tribe elderly populations in northern Thailand

Tawatchai Apidechkul. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension (HT) are major noncommunicable health problems in both developing and developed countries, including Thailand. Each year, a large amount of money is budgeted for treatment and care. Hill tribe people are a marginalized population in Thailand, and members of its elderly population are vulnerable to health problems due to language barriers, lifestyles, and daily dietary intake.

Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of T2DM and HT and to assess the factors associated with T2DM and HT. The study populations were hill tribe elderly adults aged ≥ 60 years living in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. A simple random method was used to select the targeted hill tribe villages and participants into the study. A validated questionnaire, physical examination form, and 5-mL blood specimen were used as research instruments. Fasting plasma glucose and blood pressure were examined and used as outcome measurements. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used for detecting the associations between variables at the significance level alpha=0.05.

Results: In total, 793 participants participated in the study; 49.6% were male, and 51.7% were aged 60-69 years. A total of 71.5% were Buddhist, 93.8% were uneducated, 62.9% were unemployed, and 89 % earned an income of < 5,000 baht/month. The overall prevalence of T2DM and HT was 16.8% and 45.5%, respectively. Approximately 9.0% individuals had comorbidity of T2DM and HT. Members of the Lahu, Yao, Karen, and Lisu tribes had a greater odds of developing T2DM than did those of the Akha tribe. Being overweight, having a parental history of T2DM, and having high cholesterol were associated with T2DM development. In contrast, those who engaged in highly physical activities and exercise had lower odds of developing T2DM than did those who did not. Regarding HT, being female, having a high dietary salt intake, being overweight, and having a parental history of HT were associated with HT development among the hill tribe elderly populations.

Conclusions: The prevalence of T2DH and HT among the hill tribe elderly populations is higher than that among the general Thai population. Public health interventions should focus on encouraging physical activity and reducing personal weight, dietary salt intake, and greasy food consumption among the hill tribe elderly.

Keywords: Elderly; Hill tribe; Hypertension; Thailand; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Consent to participate, all study instruments and procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research, Mae Fah Laung University, Chiang Rai, Thailand (No. REH-58087). All participants received an oral and written explanation and provided their consent before a voluntary agreement was witnessed and documented by signature or fingerprint.

Competing interests

The author declares that he has no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of participants’ selection. Sixty hill tribe villages were randomly selected from 749 villages, and 13-14 elderly people in each village were recruited into the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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