A Tool for Positive Change - Diabetes Risk Assessment Survey

Mount Saint Agnes Academy students were tasked with creating and distributing a risk assessment survey to assess an individual’s risk of developing and dealing with complications from Type 2 Diabetes.

The survey was created and used to carry out an initial assessment by MSA students, but was designed to be utilized on an on-going basis by the Bermuda Diabetes Association.

ImplementationStudents in Gr. 12 Religion created the survey using Google Forms. This survey was adapted from the Finnish Diabetes Association, which was recommended by the Bermuda Diabetes Association as the most straight-forward and accurate predictor of an individual’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

The project took place on the 21st and 22nd of November, 2015, from 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM each day at the MSA Bazaar. A tent was erected, which served as a type of “polling” station for individuals to complete the survey.

The survey was also distributed to all parents/guardians of MSA students via email and a link to the survey was placed on the school website.

Information regarding prevention and steps for healthy lifestyle changes, which could reduce the incidence or onset of diabetes, was disseminated in the form of an easy-to-read infographic.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset" diabetes, because it used to occur in people over 40. People with type 2 diabetes usually have a family history of this condition and most are overweight. People with type 2 diabetes are still making insulin but perhaps not enough insulin or the insulin can't work properly because of the excess weight that they have gained. Before the Second World War type 2 diabetes was still uncommon. It was almost unheard of in children. Today many more children have Type 2 diabetes than Type 1. For the most part type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle disease. People have stopped exercising and are eating too many fast fat foods and drinking an excess of sugary drinks. People with type 2 diabetes are treated with a combination of lifestyle changes and medications. Some may eventually need insulin. Certain ethnic groups are at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. This includes, but is not limited to, Native American, Hispanic/Latino, South Asian, East Asian, Pacific Island, or those of African descent.

AgeRisk 1-45 46 - 54 55 - 64 65+ TotalLower than 7 91 9 1 0 1017 - 11 15 8 2 0 2512 - 14 6 4 1 0 1115 - 20 2 5 1 1 920+ 0 1 0 0 1

114 27 5 1 147

Results and DiscussionThere were 147 respondents to the survey, with most falling within the 1 – 45 year old age category. There were a number of students who took the survey, which might have made the younger age category more predominant.

Overall, in this sample, the majority, or 69%, of participants were at low-to-no risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. One of the noticeable trends in this survey was the increased risk of older adults developing diabetes.

While the results of this specific survey paint relatively harmless picture of the risk of Type 2 Diabetes incidence in Bermuda, there was one question’s results that might show a more stark reality. When asked, “Have any members of your family been diagnosed with diabetes?” 90 responded “Yes” to either a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin having it (62) or “Yes” to a parent, sibling or child having diabetes (28). The numbers may be even higher if ignorance of a family member’s disease is considered.

Furthermore, it should be noted that this survey merely captured a sample of Bermuda’s population. The numbers could represent those who consider themselves relatively healthy and are unafraid to find out their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

We noticed that many individuals were wary of completing the survey once they found out what it was for. We believe that fear is one of the greatest obstacles to eliminating or decreasing the incidence of diabetes in Bermuda: people are afraid to acknowledge that they may be at risk and ignore that certain lifestyle factors (and choices) can lead to an increased risk of diabetes through obesity.

The hesitancy for many to complete the survey, led us to distributing an infographic that might capture an individual’s attention and lead them to at least learning a bit more about Type 2 diabetes and steps for positive change.