Diabetes in Malta : a pilot survey

Abstract

Clinicians in Malta have long been convinced that the incidence of diabetes mellitus in the island was particularly high but no figures were available to prove or disprove this belief. The disease is not required to be notified. The Royal University of Malta organised and subsidised a pilot project, intended to screen a representative sample of the population, and I was selected to plan in detail and direct the project. The pilot survey was intended to screen a population estimated at just under 8000, from which expatriates were subsequently excluded, consisting of an urban area, Floriana, with an estimated population of about 6000 and a rural, prevalently agricultural area (Gharghur, Madliena, and Bahar-ic-Caghaq) with a population of about 2000. All ages were to be included in the survey.