Myanmar is currently facing the burden of non-communicable diseases due to changes in lifestyle and dietary patterns linked to socio-economic development. However, evidence is scarce about changes in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) over time. We aimed to investigate changes in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of DM from 2004 to 2014, among adults aged 25-74 years, in the Yangon region. Two cross-sectional household-based studies, according to World Health Organization STEPwise approach to surveillance (WHO STEPS) methodology, were conducted in 2004 (n = 4448) and 2014 (n = 1372). The overall age-standardized prevalence of DM was 8.3% (95% CI 6.5-10.6) in 2004 and 10.2% (7.6-13.6) in 2014 (p = 0.296). The DM prevalence increased between the study years among elderly participants only, from 14.6% (11.7-18.1) to 31.9% (21.1-45.0) (p = 0.009). Awareness of having DM increased from 44.3% (39.2, 49.6) to 69.4% (62.9-75.2) (p < 0.001). Among participants who were aware of having DM, the proportion under treatment increased from 55.1% (46.8-63.1) to 68.6% (61.5-74.8) (p = 0.015). There was no change in proportion with controlled DM. Adjusted for age, sex and education, mean fasting plasma glucose levels in 2014 were 0.56 mmol/L (0.26-0.84) higher than in 2004. Preventive measures to halt future increases in DM prevalence and to increase the detection of undiagnosed DM cases are needed.
Keywords: Myanmar; Yangon; awareness; control; diabetes mellitus; prevalence; treatment.