Socio-economic Realities in a Rural Filipino Community Lead to Volunteer Bias in a Survey of Diabetes, Prediabetes and Metabolic Syndrome

Authors

  • Mark Anthony Santiago Sandoval University of the Philippines Manila
  • Elizabeth Paz-Pacheco Professor, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila
  • Gregory Joseph Ryan Ardena Professor, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila
  • Frances Lina Lantion-Amg Clinical Professor, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila
  • Elizabeth Paterno Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, and Director (2008-2014), Community Health and Development Program, University of the Philippines Manila
  • Noel Juban Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila
  • Cecilia Jimeno Professor, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila

Keywords:

Volunteer bias, prevalence survey, diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, rural community

Abstract

A survey was done to determine the prevalence of diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome in the rural town of San Juan, Batangas in the Philippines since there is limited data on these conditions in the rural areas of the country. However, volunteer bias has hampered the accurate determination of the true prevalence of these conditions despite our best efforts at ensuring random selection of participants. Presented here is a real world example showing how socio-economic realities in the community make volunteer bias difficult to avoid in a rural resource-limited area.

Author Biography

Mark Anthony Santiago Sandoval, University of the Philippines Manila

Clinical Associate Professor Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Department of Medicine College of Medicine and Philippine General Hospital University of the Philippines Manila

References

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Published

2016-07-25

Issue

Section

Original Research