Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in elderly men aged 65 to 84 years in eastern and western Finland

Abstract

Summary.We studied the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in men aged 65 to 84 years in Finland. The study sample consisted of 763 men, the survivors of the Finnish cohort of the "Seven Countries Study" first examined in 1959. The participation rate in the present survey was 94%. Blood glucose, fasting and 2 h after a 75-g oral glucose load, was determined from capillary blood. Current WHO criteria for diabetes mellitus were used. The mean fasting blood glucose level, adjusted for age and body mass index, was higher in east than west Finland. It rose with age in both areas. The prevalence of diabetes was 38% in the east and 36% in west Finland. About one-third of the men had impaired glucose tolerance. In the age group 75 to 79 years, the prevalence of diabetes was 65% in the east and 50% in the west. No systematic variation in the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance with age was found. The mean levels of body mass index decreased with age in the same way in men with diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance and normal glucose tolerance. Body mass index was not higher in men with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance than in men with normal glucose tolerance.

Prevalence of NIDDM and impaired glucose tolerance in Italy: an OGTT-based population study

“…This overall prevalence appears similar to the most recent prevalence figures of some northern European countries, accounting for about 4% [7][8][9][10][11] while it appears lower than in Malta (9.2 % for males and 14.5 % for females in the age 45-64 years), which provides the sole comparable data in southern Europe [1].…”

“…As far as the relationship between diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes is concerned, the available data show that the proportion of unknown diabetes exhibits great variation among different countries [9,11,[14][15][16][17][18][19], particularly when different Health Systems are operating. In our study its proportion resulted much lower with respect to the figures of 1 to 1 [14], up to now adopted in Italy.…”

Prevalence, incidence and mortality of type 2 diabetes mellitus revisited: A prospective population-based study in The Netherlands (ZODIAC-1)

“…Between studies with a different study design -using oral glucose tolerance tests or based on self report or general practice registers -the large proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes that is presumed to be undiagnosed (and could be as high as 50%) [10,11] can give rise to varying findings, especially because this proportion again may vary between regions or countries. Not only national but also international literature presents few publications with detailed data on the highest age categories: these publications are difficult to compare because of considerable differences in definitions and study design, and they show highly varying prevalence rates [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increases quickly and is estimated to be highest in the eldest age categories, we consider it important not to ignore this age category and to present actual data on current prevalence, incidence and mortality of known diabetes in all age groups, including these eldest.…”

A Study of HbA1c, fasting and 2 hour plasma glucose levels in current smokers presenting at a tertiary care hospital in North India

“…38 Some studies have reported that a large proportion of elderly subjects aged 65 years and over have either impaired glucose tolerance or overt diabetes. 39,40 In the case of all three variables we have observed an increase in mean values in smokers (cases) as compared to non-smokers (controls) in every age group. However, a strong correlation between smoking and the observed increase exists only in the case of HbA1c ('p-value' almost equal to 0.05 in 61-70 years age group and < 0.05 in all other age groups).…”