Bassey NA, Peterside O, Anochie IC
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disorder of childhood and adolescence. Urine testing for glycosuria is an important screening to ol for DM, especially in mass screening programmes. The screening of secondary school children in Port Harcourt for DM was done using glycosuria as a screening tool. Also, the relationship between risk factors for DM and glycosuria was determined. In November 2008, a cross sectional study of 1008 stud ents aged 10 to 18 years from 12 secondary schools in Port Harcourt was carried out. Structure d questionnaires were completed by the investigators. Urine glucose was determined using a dipstick urinary multistix strip.The prevalence of glycosuria was 0.7% with males having a higher prev alence (1.2%) than females (0.2%). Glycosuria was found more amongst children aged 16 to 17 years (1. 1%), children from private schools (0.9%) and children in social class IV (3.3%). The relationshi p between elevated blood pressure and glycosuria wa s statistically significant. There was no statistical ly significant relationship between glycosuria and body mass index categories, waist hip ratio, acanthosis nigricans and family history of diabetes. Glycosuri a occurs in apparently healthy secondary school child ren. As such, regular screening of secondary school children for DM using urine glucose testing should be incorporated into the school health programme.
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