AIM: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diabetes in the urban population living in Dakar, Senegal, and to investigate the factors associated with diabetes. METHODS: Data from a 2009 survey of 600 individuals, aged 20 years or above and considered representative of the population of the city of Dakar, were evaluated. Socioeconomic characteristics, hypertension, capillary whole blood glucose, and weight and height measurements of these subjects were collected during face-to-face interviews. The statistical analyses used chi-square (chi(2)) tests and binary logistic regressions. RESULTS: The percentage of participants with fasting blood glucose levels greater than or equal to 1.10g/L and/or currently being treated for diabetes was 17.9% (n=107, 95% CI: 14.7-20.8). Observed rates of diabetes were significantly higher among women (chi(2)=6.3; P40 years (chi(2)=33.6; P<0.001), in those with low educational levels (chi(2)=11.9; P<0.05) and in those with hypertension (chi(2)=13.9; P<0.001), and in those who were overweight (BMI≥25kg/m(2) and<30kg/m(2)) or obese (BMI≥30kg/m(2); chi(2)=40.3; P<0.001). After adjusting for gender, age, educational level, BMI and blood pressure, the results showed that gender, age and BMI were associated with diabetes: women, older people and those with a higher BMI had significantly greater chances of being diabetic than the rest of the population, whatever their blood pressure and educational level. CONCLUSION: Diabetes is becoming a pressing public-health problem in Senegal, and the major risk factors for the increasing diabetes prevalence in the city of Dakar are gender, age and body mass index.
