In the coming months, the first-ever University of Malta led longitudinal cohort study targeting metabolic diseases in Malta is set to commence. This will be carried out by the PhD student Dr Elizabeth Grech, supervised by Dr Sarah Cuschieri and Prof. Neville Calleja through the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.
This is a follow-up study of SAĦĦTEK – The University of Malta Health and Wellbeing Study, which was a national representative study conducted between 2014 and 2016 as part of Dr Cuschieri’s doctoral studies. At that time, a randomised sample population of 4,000 adults (18 to 70 years) living across Malta and Gozo were invited to participate in a free health examination. This consisted of a health information survey, measurements for blood pressure, weight, height, and waist circumference and blood tests for glucose and lipid levels.
The SAĦĦTEK study provided a snapshot of the health status of Maltese population including the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, overweight-obesity, metabolic syndrome, smoking, alcohol consumption along with establishment of relationships with different co-determinants.
Almost 10 years have passed since the onset of SAĦĦTEK, amidst which the COVID-19 pandemic happened. The impact of COVID-19 and potential lifestyle changes that occurred during this period could have affected the metabolic health of the Maltese population.
A random sample of the subset of the original SAĦĦTEK study population who consented for further contact, will be invited to participate in this follow-up study. This longitudinal nested-cohort study will enable the researchers to establish potential risk factors contributing to the development of metabolic chronic diseases while examining for the impact of COVID-19 among the Maltese adult population. Such evidence plays an important role in public health preventive approaches.
This research entitled “Analysis of the metabolic status of the Maltese population: a nested cohort study” will be carried out in collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation and the University of Malta through the Research, Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT).
