High prevalence of hyperglycaemia and the impact of high household income in transforming Rural China

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of hyperglycaemia and its association with socioeconomic factors have been well studied in developed countries, however, little is known about them in transforming rural China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in 4 rural communities of Deqing County located in East China in 2006-07, including 4,506 subjects aged 18 to 64 years. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was measured. Subjects were considered to have impaired fasting glucose (IFG) if FPG was in the range from 5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L and to have diabetes mellitus (DM) if FG was 7.0 mmol/L or above.ResultsThe crude prevalences of IFG and DM were 5.4% and 2.2%, respectively. The average ratio of IFG/DM was 2.5, and tended to be higher for those under the age of 35 years than older subjects. After adjustment for covariates including age (continuous), sex, BMI (continuous), smoking, alcohol drinking, and regular leisure physical activity, subjects in the high household income group had a significantly higher risk of IFG compared with the medium household income group (OR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.11-2.72) and no significant difference in IFG was observed between the low and medium household income groups. Education and farmer occupation were not significantly associated with IFG.ConclusionsHigh household income was significantly associated with an increased risk of IFG. A high ratio of IFG/DM suggests a high risk of diabetes in foreseeable future in the Chinese transforming rural communities.

Relation of socio‐economic status to impaired fasting glucose and Type 2 diabetes: findings based on a large population‐based cross‐sectional study in Tianjin, China

“…In high-income countries, the socio-economic status-diabetes relationship appeared to be negative, with the poor at greatest risk [3][4][5][6]16]. However, the strength of the association was less consistent in low-and middle-income countries [8][9][10]. However, the strength of the association was less consistent in low-and middle-income countries [8][9][10].…”

“…A meta-analysis of 23 case-control and cohort studies on socio-economic statusdiabetes association also revealed an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes for low socio-economic status groups based on education, occupation and income in high-income countries [17]. However, the strength of the association was less consistent in low-and middle-income countries [8][9][10]. We found that low income was associated with high odds of impaired fasting glucose and undiagnosed and diagnosed Type 2 diabetes, which is in accordance with the results from high income countries.…”

“…Studies from developed countries have reported that low socioeconomic status may indicate higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes [3][4][5][6] and that patients with diabetes with the lowest income are less likely to reach the recommended glycaemic level [7]. However, several studies from developing countries reported either no association between socio-economic status and Type 2 diabetes [8], or that higher socio-economic status is related to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes [9,10]. It has been hypothesized that the reversed association between socioeconomic status and prevalence of impaired fasting glucose and Type 2 diabetes might change when developing countries go through socio-economic changes.…”

“…However, studies on the relationship between socio-economic status and Type 2 diabetes in the Chinese population are sparse and inconsistent. A study in southern rural China reported that persons with lower educational level had higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes than people with higher educational level [12], while another study from eastern rural China in 2006-2007 showed that higher income was associated with an increased risk of impaired fasting glucose compared with those with medium income [10]. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the association between various measures of socio-economic status and impaired fasting glucose, Type 2 diabetes and the control of Type 2 diabetes in a large Chinese population living in the third biggest city, Tianjin.…”

The prevalence of glucose metabolism disturbances in Chinese Muslims and possible risk factors: a study from northwest China

“…In our study, we selected the two-stage sampling procedure to collect samples. In the first stage, consider different income levels might affect the diet habits which can further affect the incidence of DM and PDM, we thus performed the population stratification based on the income levels (high level [> 1500 Renminbi {RMB}, middle level [1000 -1500 RMB], and low level [< 1000 RMB]) per capita per year (14,15). For each income level, we sampled one countryside from those countrysides around Guyuan city with the same income levels.…”