Reply

We appreciate with interests raised by Dr. Jayadevan Sreedharan.

The department of primary care shares medical care with the diabetic centre at the endocrinology department. We felt it would be wise to involve cohorts of patients through the primary care department to avoid bias of including patients with diabetes that are followed by the diabetic centre. Moreover, the characteristic of the population were mentioned in Table 1. There were 56 patients excluded out of 6024 patients screened as there was no documented history and laboratory neither diabetic medications to document their history of diabetes.

Statistical tests mentioned in the methodology include univariate analysis, t test, Pearson correlation and linear regression that were used as indicated statistically and are shown in the results and the discussion sections. In Figure 1, the values given in x axis with regard to categorization of BMI are not correctly typed (18.5-54.9). The correct value is (18.5-24.9). We thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond and clarify such issues.