For my 20 time project, I chose to do a study that explores some of the risk factors and parameters that are important in diabetes, insulin resistance, and heart disease in South Asians. I created a survey and I gave it to a small sample of the community so that I could try and determine the common risk factors, and more importantly, the level of awareness in a sample of the South Asian community.
I formed my questionnaire after reading the book The South Asian Health Solution, which was my initial inspiration for doing this project. I was intrigued by the fact that South Asians are at higher risk for diabetes and heart disease, and I wondered why that was and wanted look further into it. My focus was for the study was to see how aware most people were, and also to determine the prevalent risk factors.
My first steps were to research the topic, and I started by reading about 3/4 of the book The South Asian Health Solution. I used this resource, along with a couple others, to create my survey. I am happy with the major risk factors that the survey addressed, and how I formulated it to specifically measure how aware people were.
I then sent it to roughly 20 people, and analyzed some of the trends and patterns I saw. If I had more time on the project, I definitely would increase my sample size significantly to make the study more accurate. I divided my time slightly unevenly between the research and actually administering the questionnaire, and this is something I would change could I do the project over again. However, I learnt a huge amount from all the research I did on the topic, as well as creating and looking at the results from the survey.
I would love to continue giving the survey to more people; the results are fascinating, and tell me a lot about the awareness of risk factors for diabetes and heart disease in my immediate community. An immediate goal for me would be to continue raising more awareness of this topic as well, and share what I learned from my research with others.
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