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Accumulating evidence suggests that negative perceptions towards diabetes can limit the management and prevention of the disease. The negative perceptions towards diabetes are prevalent in many different settings, especially among rural communities. Few qualitative studies have been performed to understand how the community views diabetes and its associated risk factors. This study aimed to explore general community perceptions of diabetes and its risk factors in rural Indonesia. A total of 68 participants were recruited to 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) comprised of different age groups and sexes. The FGDs were conducted in six villages in rural Purworejo District, Central Java, Indonesia, from 2011 to 2012. All FGDs were recorded and transcribed. Qualitative content analysis was performed to describe and analyse how the rural community perceived diabetes and its risk factors. Diabetes was perceived as a visible and scary sugar disease, and the affected individuals themselves were blamed for getting the disease. Recognised as 'sugar' or 'sweet-pee' disease with terrifying effects, diabetes was believed to be a disease with no cure. The participants seemed to have an unrealistic optimism with regards to the diabetes risk factors. They believed that diabetes would not affect them, only others, and that having family members with diabetes was necessary for one to develop diabetes. Our findings demonstrate that rural communities have negative perceptions about diabetes and at the same time individuals have unrealistic optimism about their own risk factors. Understanding how such communities perceive diabetes and its risk factors is important for planning prevention strategies. Health messages need to be tailored to health-related behaviours and the local culture's concepts of diseases and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Obesity has become a global health challenge as its prevalence has increased globally in recent decades. Studies in high-income countries have shown that obesity is more prevalent among the poor. In contrast, obesity is more prevalent among the rich in low- and middle-income countries, hence requiring different focal points to design public health policies in the latter contexts. We examined socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity in Purworejo District, Central Java, Indonesia and identified factors contributing to the inequalities.

METHODS: We utilised data from the WHO-INDEPTH Study on global AGEing and adult health (WHO-INDEPTH SAGE) conducted in the Purworejo Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Purworejo District, Indonesia in 2010. The study included 14,235 individuals aged 50 years and older. Inequalities in abdominal obesity across wealth groups were assessed separately for men and women using concentration indexes. Decomposition analysis was conducted to assess the determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity.

RESULTS: Abdominal obesity was five-fold more prevalent among women than in men (30% vs. 6.1%; p < 0.001). The concentration index (CI) analysis showed that socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity were less prominent among women (CI = 0.26, SE = 0.02, p < 0.001) compared to men (CI = 0.49, SE = 0.04, p < 0.001). Decomposition analysis showed that physical labour was the major determinant of socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity among men, explaining 47% of the inequalities, followed by poor socioeconomic status (31%), ≤ 6 years of education (15%) and current smoking (11%). The three major determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity among women were poor socio-economic status (48%), physical labour (17%) and no formal education (16%).

CONCLUSION: Abdominal obesity was more prevalent among older women in a rural Indonesian setting. Socioeconomic inequality in abdominal obesity exists and concentrates more among the rich population in both sexes. The inequality gap is less prominent among women, indicating a trend towards obesity being more common in poor women. Policies to address social determinants of health need to be developed to address the socioeconomic inequality gaps in obesity, with particular focus on addressing the existing burden of obesity among the better-off population group, while preventing the imminent burden of obesity among the worst-off group, particularly among women.

Waist circumference, a measure of abdominal obesity, is associated with all-cause mortality in general adult population. However, the link between abdominal obesity with all-cause mortality in the studies of older adults is unclear. This study aims to determine the association between waist circumference and all-cause mortality in older adults in Indonesia. The association between waist circumference and all-cause mortality was examined in 10,997 men and women aged 50 years and older, in the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Network of field sites for continuous Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health in developing countries (INDEPTH) collaboration Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) in Purworejo District Central Java, Indonesia during 2007–2010. Multivariate Cox regression analysis with restricted cubic splines was used to assess the non-linear association between waist circumference and all-cause mortality. During the 3-year follow-up, a total of 511 men and 470 women died. The hazard ratio plot shows a pattern of U-shape relationship between waist circumference and all-cause mortality among rich women, though the result was significant only for women in the lower end of waist circumference distribution (p < 0.05). Poor men with a low waist circumference (5th percentile) have a two times higher mortality risk (HR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.3, 3.3) relative to those with a waist circumference of 90 cm. Poor women with a low waist circumference (25th percentile) have a 1.4 times higher mortality risk (HR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.1, 1.8) relative to those with a waist circumference of 80 cm. This study shows a significant association between low waist circumference measure and mortality, particularly among poor men and women. Though the association between large waist circumference and mortality was not significant, we observed a trend of higher mortality risk particularly among rich women with large waist circumference measure. Public health intervention should include efforts to improve nutritional status among older people and promoting healthy lifestyle behaviours including healthy food and active lifestyle.