Evidence for an Increase in the Prevalence of Known Diabetes in a Sample of an Urban Population in Greece

Abstract

It is accepted that the prevalence of known diabetes mellitus has increased in some countries, although the available data are incomplete and sometimes anecdotal. In 1974 a sample of the urban population (n = 21,410) in a suburb of Athens (Greece) was evaluated for the prevalence of known diabetes mellitus. The study was repeated 17 years later in the same area under the same conditions and methodology on 12,836 randomly selected inhabitants (both sexes, all ages). Visiting nurses contacted the inhabitants at home and filled in a questionnaire. The results show a clear increase in diabetes prevalence of the population as a whole (standardized rates: 1974: 2.4% (95% confidence intervals 2.2-2.6%) 1990: 3.1 (2.8-3.4%)). Standardization was done on the basis of data obtained from the same census. The changes were statistically significant in the 50-59, 60-69, and 70-79 age groups (1974: 5.87, 10.98, and 11.41%; 1990: 7.70, 13.68, and 19.52%, respectively). Thus, the prevalence of known diabetes mellitus has considerably increased during the last 17 years in a sample of urban Greek population.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with obesity, smoking and low socioeconomic status in large and representative samples of rural, urban, and suburban adult Greek populations

“…However, screening of selected groups of the general population and the non-random, non-populationbased nature of most relevant studies have given rise to wide variations of the reported DM prevalence in Greece in previous studies. [16][17][18][19][20][21] The strengths of the present study are: i) a large number of subjects was evaluated in a door-to-door manner by experienced physicians who visited, interviewed, and collected data at their homes; ii) the participants were representative of the total adult target population of the studied areas and, most importantly, of the Greek adult population; iii) a high participation rate was achieved. On the other hand, this study is not without limitations.…”

“…The development of type 2 DM is influenced by attained age and has been demonstrated in previous studies. [16][17][18][19][20][21][23][24][25][26] With regard to the association between excess body weight and type 2 DM, we found that both overweight and obesity were associated with higher prevalence of DM in univariate analysis. However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that only obesity and not overweight status was associated with higher risk of type 2 DM.…”

Factors Associated with the Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus Among Elderly Men and Women Living in Mediterranean Islands: The MEDIS Study

“…This number may double by the year 2025, because of population growth, ageing, unhealthy diets, obesity and sedentary lifestyles. In Greece, Katsilambros et al from the Aegaleo Study group reported that the prevalence of diabetes increased from 2.4% to 3.1% between 1974 and 1990 among middle-aged men and women [2]. More recent results from the ATTICA Study revealed that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus was 7.6% in middle-aged men and 5.9% in middle-aged women, living in urban and rural areas of the Athens metropolitan region in 2001 [3].…”

Trends in epidemiology of diabetes mellitus in Greece. Review of the major epidemiological studies

“…The increase in prevalence of DM is rapid, and IDF [4] estimates that people with diabetes, which were 350 million in 2011, will more than double and reach 552 million by 2030 [2].…”