The Prevalence of Diabetes mellitus in Elderly Females Living in Riyadh Social Welfare Home

The Riyadh Social Welfare Home (SWH) for the elderly females, who are over sixty years of age, is one of the services that is provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs in the Kingdom. All services that are offered i.e. residency, food and health care are free of charge. The percentage of elderly population in the Arab counties as a whole is estimated to be about 5.6% of the total population, while in Saudi Arabia it is about 4.9% and is expected that this percentage will reach 21.3% of the total population by the year 2050. It is recognized that age-related physiological changes may pre dispose to protein-energy malnutrition, increased morbidity rates. Hence more diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases and their associated complications are expected in the elderly than in the younger age group. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among this group and to assess their nutritional status and if they are of poor health, to provide nutritional support and medical care, in order to prevent or minimize diabetes complications. A total of 31 elderly females who were residents of the Riyadh Social Welfare Home were included in this study. Anthropometric Measurements: Height, weight, mid arm circumference, triceps skin fold thickness, mid upper arm muscle circumference was measured. Biochemical Analysis: Fasting Blood Glucose, Hb, Serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, albumin were measured. Results showed that, about 29% of the residents were diabetics, 16% were malnourished, 25.8% were overweight and 12.7% were obese. 32% were anemic and the diabetics showed significantly higher serum triglycerides, fasting blood sugar and total cholesterol than the non diabetics respectively. In conclusion, malnutrition among the Social Welfare Home residents is high and diabetes mellitus is highly prevalent. So supported strategies are needed to prevent and control its complication.