PREVALENCE OF KNOWN DIABETES IN A MULTIETHNIC COMMUNITY

Aims. To describe the prevalence of known diabetes in an area of New Z ealand with a large Pacific Islands and Maori population. Method. A cr oss sectional door to door census with identification of those with kn own diabetes was conducted between April and October 1992. The data wa s validated by comparison with available local general practice diabet es registers and data from a repeat visit to a randomly selected 5% of houses. Results. Interviews were completed at 92.7% of the 5081 house holds, containing 22 651 residents (1417 European, 5606 Maori, 14 802 Pacific Islands). The Pacific Islands population was 40% larger than t hat predicted from the 1991 census. The age adjusted prevalence of kno wn diabetes in adults (aged greater-than-or-equal-to 20 years) was 2.8 % (95% CI 1.9-3.9) in Europeans, 6.9% (95% CI 6.0-7.9) in Maori and 4. 6% (95% CI 4.1-5.1) in Pacific Islands people. The greatest difference s in prevalence were found in those aged 40-59 years. Interviews at 18 5/280 houses revisited showed that 13% of households had moved complet ely in the 2-8 months between visits. Comparison between participating general practice registers and the door to door survey database showe d that 11.2% (26/232) of diabetic individuals were missed by the door to door survey, and 23.7% (55/232) were not on the register of the nam ed general practitioner. Conclusions. The prevalence of known diabetes in the community is much higher than that in the workforce. Differenc es between Maori and Pacific Islands people may be due to more undiagn osed diabetes or a lower risk of diabetes in the latter.