Diabetic Mellitus and Its Risk Factors in Oman: A Multi-level Approach

Different research suggests that the prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Oman is high and that appears to be rising and rising. Rising rates of diabetes and associated risk factors are typically found in populations that undergo epidemiological transition and urbanization [1-5]. Is this happening to Omani population with a reasonable extent in both direction through epidemiological transition and urbanization. But few previous study findings [6-8, 10] suggest disfavor of the previous case and in favour of the latter case may be due to other hidden reasons and indicated that urban dwellers were not significantly more likely to have diabetes. This study will undertake to determine the risk factors that are associated with the disease by implementing multilevel logistic regression analysis to Oman National Health Survey data conducted by the Ministry of Health of the Sultanate of Oman. Since the survey is based on a multistage stratified sampling the nested sources of variability should be considered in modelling to find the actual effects of the risk factors. Therefore multilevel logistic regression modelling would be the best choice to take the variability due to place of living (urban or rural) and regions (districts) into account and thereby to determine if a more accurate urban and rural categorization would reveal different findings. The objectives of the present study are categorized in two ways: firstly, to measure the prevalence of diabetes across demographic and socioeconomic descriptors and secondly to determine the significant factors associated with diabetes, in particular to examine whether urban residence as described above (i.e. living in the town or city) and whether different region?s residence (i.e. living in different district) are independently associated with diabetes, adjusting for other risk factors and demographic factors.