Abstract for:Investigating the management of the increased prediabetic prevalence of the South African population
The increasing prevalence of prediabetes in South Africa is of great concern. Due to the complex nature and non-linear interactions that exist within the health care system to address prediabetic health care, system dynamics is suggested as an appropriate approach to evaluate and gain insight into the dominant factors that influence the effective management of prediabetes, and to identify more effective and efficient prediabetic policy and intervention strategies. Six causal loop diagrams are developed and are used in the development of the system dynamics model. Five interventions strategies are identified as scenarios, and tested in the developed system dynamics model, where increased screening of high-risk individuals for prediabetes is identified as the most effective intervention strategy for reducing the prediabetic population, as confirmed in literature.