Mak. Omar et al., SOUTH-AFRICAN INDIANS SHOW A HIGH PREVALENCE OF NIDDM AND BIMODALITY IN PLASMA-GLUCOSE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS, Diabetes care, 17(1), 1994, pp. 70-73
Citations number
15
Categorie Soggetti
Endocrynology & Metabolism","Medicine, General & Internal
OBJECTIVE - To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impai
red glucose tolerance (IGT) and to test for bimodality in the plasma g
lucose distribution in South African Indians. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METH
ODS - Subjects were selected by systematic cluster sampling in various
areas of Durban. They underwent a modified glucose tolerance test whe
reby fasting and 2-h postglucose (75 g) plasma glucose levels were mea
sured. The program MIX was used to test for bimodality in the plasma g
lucose distribution. RESULTS - We tested 2,479 subjects (1,441 women a
nd 1,038 men). Based on the revised World Health Organization criteria
, the crude prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 9.8%, and the crude pr
evalence of IGT was 5.8%; the age- and sex-adjusted prevalence was 13.
0 and 6.9%, respectively. IGT was significantly more common in men (7.
6%) than in women (4.4%). Obesity was a feature of both diabetes melli
tus and IGT, particularly in women. Both fasting and 2-h plasma glucos
e values did not conform to a single normal distribution pattern in an
y age-group, whereas unequivocal evidence of bimodality was seen in th
e 55- to 74-year age-group of both sexes for fasting and 2-h glucose a
nd also in the 2-h levels of men in the 25- to 34-year age-group. CONC
LUSIONS - This study has highlighted a high prevalence of non-insulin-
dependent diabetes mellitus in South African Indians and bimodality in
the plasma glucose distribution.