Prevalence and determinants of diabetes mellitus among the Metis of western Canada

Diabetes and its complications are major contributors to morbidity and mort ality among Canada's Aboriginal populations. The epidemiology of diabetes a mong the Metis has not; yet; been investigated. The purpose of this study w as to determine the prevalence of diabetes among the Metis, to identify dia betes risk factors, and to test; hypotheses related to diabetes etiology. T he source of the data for this research was the Aboriginal Peoples Survey ( APS), a postcensal survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 1991. Study pop ulations included the APS self-identified Metis and North American Indians of western Canada. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done to estima te the prevalence of diabetes and to identify diabetes risk factors. Multip le logistic regression was performed to test etiological hypotheses regardi ng the determinants of diabetes. The crude prevalence of diabetes among the Metis (6%) was slightly less than that reported by North American Indians (7%) and twice the general rate for Canada (3%). Diabetes was significantly associated with age, sex, obesity, and level of education. The APS dataset was useful in establishing diabetes as a significant problem among the Met is. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.