OBJECTIVE: To determine the variation in diabetes prevalence across Asian countries and its relationship with the quality of health system and socioeconomic characteristics of the country.

METHODOLOGY: An ecological analysis was conducted using publicly available data from the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the International Diabetes Federation. Geographical variation in diabetes prevalence across countries was examined using control charts while the relationships between country-level determinants and diabetes prevalence were investigated using linear regression analysis.

RESULTS: The control chart shows special-cause variation in diabetes prevalence in 21 (58%) of the Asian countries; nine countries were below the 99.8% control limits while twelve were above it.

Fifteen (42%) countries suggest common-cause variation. Three country characteristics independently associated with diabetes prevalence were hypertension prevalence (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.55; p-value<0.001), obesity prevalence (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.18; p-value<0.001), and quality of health care governance (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.34; p-value=0.02).

CONCLUSION: There is a considerable geographical variation in diabetes prevalence across Asian countries. A substantial part of this variation could be explained by differences in the quality of health care governance, hypertension prevalence and obesity prevalence.

Human ; Prevalence ; Asia

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the level of food safety knowledge, and its determinant factors during eating out settings, among Indonesian adults after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was carried out from April 19 to April 26, 2021, using an online questionnaire. Participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to information, as well as knowledge towards food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic were obtained using a convenience sampling technique. Data collected were subjected to descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: From a total of 551 completed responses, the majority of respondents were female (76.8%), between the ages of 18-25 years (41.2%), had a college (bachelor) degree (65.2%), and lived in Java Island (74.0%). About 45.4% were exposed to food safety information 1-2 times per week and more than half (56.8%) claimed to get trusted sources of food safety information from social media. After adjusting with other variables, the most dominant factor associated with the food safety knowledge during eating out were age (26-32 years) (OR=1.7, 95% CI 1.0-2.7) and gender (female) (OR=1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.4). CONCLUSION After one-year of COVID-19 pandemic, the most dominant factors related to food safety knowledge are age and gender. Food safety knowledge has no significant association with attitude and practice.