Journal of Public Health | pp. 1–11 | doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdz051 Factors associated with undiagnosed type II diabetes mellitus, undiagnosed impaired fasting glucose and these patients’ quality of life in Lebanon Souheil Hallit 1,2 , Sylvia Saade 3,4 , Rouba Karen Zeidan 2,5,6 , Katia Iskandar 2,7 , Nelly Kheir 8 , Lara Youssef 9 , Rachelle Costantine 10 , Rabih Hallit 1† , Pascale Salameh 2,11† 1 Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon 2 INSPECT-LB: Institut National de Sante Publique, Epidemiologie Clinique et Toxicologie, Beirut, Lebanon 3 School of Pharmacy, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon 4 Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut, Lebanon 5 Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Fanar, Lebanon 6 CERIPH, Center for Research in Public Health, Pharmacoepidemiology Surveillance Unit, Faculty of Public Health, Lebanese University, Fanar, Lebanon 7 INSERM, Equipe 5, EQUITY, Toulouse, France 8 Faculty of Pedagogy, Université de la Sainte Famille, Batroun, Lebanon 9 Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, Notre-Dame University, Zouk, Lebanon 10 Department of Agronomic Sciences, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Jounieh, Lebanon 11 Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon Address correspondence to Souheil Hallit, E-mail: souheilhallit@hotmail.com. ABSTRACT Objective To assess the association between undiagnosed impaired fasting glucose (UIFG) and diabetes (UD), their risk factors and the patients’ knowledge about diabetes and their quality of life (QOL). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and September 2017 in four laboratories enrolling 495 patients. We used the Diabetes Knowledge and SF-12 questionnaires to assess the patients’ knowledge about diabetes and QOL. This study meets the Wilson and Jungner criteria for disease screening. Results A higher knowledge score (ORa = 0.85) was significantly associated with the absence of diabetes compared to UPD, whereas an increased age (ORa = 1.2) and a positive family history of diabetes (ORa = 1.81) were significantly associated with higher odds of UPD. An increased knowledge score (ORa = 0.55) was significantly associated with an absence of diabetes compared to UD, whereas an increased BMI (ORa = 1.40) and an increased age (ORa = 1.07) were associated with increased odds of having UD. UD (Beta = -5.799) was significantly associated with decreased total physical component QOL score, whereas increased diabetes knowledge score (Beta = 0.415) was significantly associated with increased physical QOL. A higher diabetes knowledge score (Beta = 0.459) were associated with increased mental QOL. Conclusion Seeing the relatively high percentage of UD and UIFG, we propose that screening should be considered and subject to proper assessment in the light of the findings of this study. Keywords knowledge, Lebanon, quality of life, undiagnosed diabetes, undiagnosed impaired fasting glucose † Last co-authors. Souheil Hallit, Assistant Professor Sylvia Saade, Lecturer Rouba Karen Zeidan, Associate Professor Katia Iskandar, Lecturer Nelly Kheir, Lecturer Lara Youssef, Assistant Professor Rachelle Costantine, Dietitian Rabih Hallit, Associate Professor Pascale Salameh, Professor © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com 1