Prevalence and Risk Factors of Diabetes Mellitus: A Community-Based WHO STEPwise Approach to Surveillance (STEPS) Survey in Rural Haryana, India.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including type 2 diabetes mellitus, are emerging as major health concerns across India. Diabetes, once considered a predominantly urban condition, is increasingly being reported from rural populations as well, reflecting broader lifestyle and epidemiological transitions. National reports highlight a growing prevalence of high blood glucose levels, particularly among adults, with a rising trend in both awareness and disease burden. India is now among the countries with the highest number of individuals living with diabetes, necessitating urgent public health attention. This study examines the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its associated risk factors among adults in a rural area of Haryana, contributing to the evidence base required for targeted NCD prevention and control strategies in similar settings.

Materials And Methods: The study was conducted among 910 adults aged ≥18 years from villages under the Primary Health Center (PHC) Garhi Harsaru, Haryana, India. Cluster random sampling, using probability proportional to size (PPS), was employed to recruit study participants. All the study participants were subjected to the WHO STEPS questionnaire, and random blood glucose estimation was done. Apart from these, demographic, socioeconomic, and anthropometric details, along with blood pressure and physical activity, were recorded, and their association with the prevalence of diabetes was studied. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 26.0 (Chicago, IL: IBM Corp.). Pearson's chi-squared test was used to evaluate differences between groups for categorical variables. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the independent associations.

Results:  The prevalence of newly detected diabetes was 6.2%. Adults aged 50-59 years (OR: 3.4), overweight, and obesity (OR: 5.80) were found to be the independent risk factors significantly associated with diabetes mellitus in the study population.

Conclusions:  The prevalence of diabetes is rising, even in the rural population of Haryana. Targeted preventive strategies focusing on lifestyle modification and education should be prioritized in primary care settings to address this growing rural health challenge.