Elderly are vulnerable group in any population. Determining the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in any community is important to for planning and implementation of control services. Therefore, we conduct this study to determine the prevalence of diabetes among elderly population of Northern Saudi nationals. A cross-sectional study among patients attending a primary health care centers during the period from 1June to 31 October 2016. Elderly participants were interviewed with structured questionnaires to determine the presence of diabetes by questioning for history of the disease, and prescriptions, reports and center records were reviewed to document any diabetic therapies that the patients may have undergone in the past or were undergoing at that time. Of 276 elderly subjects, the mean age (± SD) was 69 (±8.95) years, male to female ratio was 46.7 to 53.3. The total prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the studied elderly population in Arar is 63.0%, 19.5%of cases were irregular with treatment, about third (30.4%) of them were uncontrolled in spite of treatment, diabetic neuropathy was found in 35.0% of cases, diabetic foot in 14.4%, diabetic retinopathy in 43.1% and diabetic nephropathy in 9.1% of cases of diabetes. No significant relation between diabetes and sex, age group and BMI group among the studied elderly (P>0.05). The prevalence of diabetes is high among elderly Saudi population and represents a major clinical and public health problem. A national prevention program to prevent diabetes and address the modifiable risk factors at the community level, targeting elderly population, should be implemented soon.
 

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