THE PREVALENCE OF DIABETES IN RIO-DE-JANEIRO, BRAZIL

OBJECTIVE - To assess the prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in the adult population of Rio de Janeiro, a two-stage cross-sectional survey was carried out in a random sample of 2,051 in dividuals aged 30-69 years from Rio de Janeiro city in Brazil. RESEARC H DESIGN AND METHODS - Subjects were first screened by fasting capilla ry glycemia (FCG). All individuals who screened positive (FCG > 5.6 mm ol/l) and every sixth consecutive person who screened negative (FCG < 5.6 mmol/l) were subjected to a 75-g glucose load. Diagnoses of diabet es and IGT were based on World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS - Results from every sixth individual who screened negative were extrap olated to all individuals who screened negative after adjustment for s ome potential bias in the subsample. Age-adjusted prevalence rates for diabetes and IGT were 7.1 and 9.0%, respectively. The rates were high er (P < 0.01) among women than among men (8.7 vs. 5.2% for diabetes an d 11.7 vs. 5.8% for IGT), among obese individuals than among nonobese individuals (7.9 vs. 6.2% for diabetes and 11.4 vs. 7.1% for IGT), and among those with family history of diabetes than among those without Family history of diabetes (12.4 vs. 4.8% for diabetes and 13.8 vs. 6. 7% For IGT). The rates for diabetes and IGT increased with age, being 1.7 and 4.5%, respectively, for the age-group of 30-19 years, 3.9 and 8.5% For the age-group of 40-49 years, 13.6 and 13% for the age-group of 50-59 years, and 17.3 and 15.30% for the age-group of 60-69 years ( P < 3.01). The prevalence of diabetes was higher among individuals wit h low educational levels than among those with high educational levels (7.3 vs 4.2%). For IGT, the rates increased from the group with inter mediate level of education (8.3%) to the low- (11.3%) and high-educati on group (12.6%). Differences in the rates for whites and non-whites ( 6.9 vs. 7.1% for diabetes and 8.8 vs. 9.6% for IGT) were not statistic ally significant. Among those with confirmed diabetes in the survey, 2 7.6% did not know of their diabetic condition. Among previously diagno sed diabetes (self-reported diabetes), 19.5% were nor being treated, 3 1.8% were on diet only, 40.7% were on oral hypoglycemic drugs, and 8.0 % were on insulin. Self-reported prevalence of diabetes was 0.1% for t he population <30 years of age, 4.3% for the 30-69 year old age-group, and 16.6% for those >70 years of age. CONCLUSIONS - The numbers found for Rio de Janeiro are similar to those for more developed countries and lead us to conclude that the impact of diabetes on public health i s the same as in those countries where this disease is considered an i mportant health problem.