Lifestyle and Health-Seeking Behaviour of Basotho Diabetic Patients

Dr Makinga, Head of Obstetrics-Gynaecology at Northdale Hospital,South Africa, worked previously in Lesotho, Zambia and DR Congo. He has two Master degrees in Public Health and in Family medicine, two Postgraduate Diplomas in Obstetrics and in HIV medicine and a Certificate in Health Management. Dr Beke: Senior lecturer-University of Pretoria

Diabetes mellitus accounted for 1.7% of all deaths in Lesotho in 2001. Its global prevalence is projected to reach 350 million by 2025 from the 2003 estimate of 194 million. The value of health education, lifestyle changes, early diagnosis and treatment in patients' management can never be overemphasized. This book is intended for Family Physicians, Public Health specialists and Health Promoters/Educators. It presents the findings of an investigation on the lifestyle and health-seeking behaviours of Basotho diabetic patients. The author uses regression analysis stepwise backward elimination method-to identify influential variables that correlate to type 2 diabetes and to construct a regression equation. With the exception of the ROC curve and the sensitivity/specificity "probability cut-off point" plot, all other diagnostic measures used to assess goodness-of-fit showed that the fitted model was fairly adequate. The author introduces HEQI (Health Education Quantity Index), a new concept that evaluates quantity of health education received by patients in a health facility. Recommendations contained in this book are applicable in most of developing countries.