Albaraa A Milibari, Ehab Y Matuure and Esraa M Gadah
Introduction: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is becoming one of the main highlighted issues by the World Health Organization (WHO) especially concerning people in developing countries. In the Arabic countries like other developing countries, the prevalence of T2DM is increasing. This systematic review aimed to determine the prevalence, determinants and risk factors as well as preventative strategies used for T2DM amongst Arabic nations. Methodology: This systematic review was conducted with the usage of 5 different electronic databases which includes Scopus, Google scholar, CINAHIL, Medline, and PubMed. Articles published between 2000 and 2015 and in English language were included in this study. The keywords that were used to search in the databases included “Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus” AND “prevention” AND “prevalence” AND “determinants OR risk factor” AND “Arabic countries OR nations”. All the relevant articles were reviewed and a data extraction sheet was made for the analysis. Results: Twenty five studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Majority of studies focused on both male and female (18 studies) and those who aged 20-50 years old (8 studies). Saudi Arabia had the highest frequency of studies on T2DM which was a total of 5 studies. The results also showed that the prevalence of T2D rates from 1.3% to over 50%. Furthermore, having an unhealthy lifestyle such as poor diet and nutrition/ lack of physical activity was the most common determinant within the population, communities and hospital-based settings especially. The highest risk factors are stroke, high blood pressure and negligence towards healthy living. Conclusion: The results of the study highlighted different prevalence of T2DM and its main determinants as well as the risk factors. This result would aid in the compilation of a framework for public health officers and stakeholders to focus on the different possible ways to reduce the contraction of T2DM. Keywords: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; Prevalence; Determinants