Diabetes incidence shown to be 10-20 times greater in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose than in subjects with normal glycaemia

A total of 5842 participants of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab), nationwide, population-based study, were followed-up over 5 years to investigate the incidence rates and risk factors for diabetes based on oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT). Normal glycaemia (NG), impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were defined using WHO definition criteria. Age-standardized annual incidence of diabetes was 0.8% for men and 0.7% for women. The annual incidence was 0.2% for NG, 2.6% for IFG and 3.5% for IGT. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that hypertension, hypertriglyceridaemia, fasting plasma glucose, waist circumference, smoking, physical inactivity, and low education level were associated with incident diabetes. HbA1c was a predictor of diabetes in the population as a whole, as well as in subjects with NG, IGT and IFG. The results demonstrate that within the Australian population studied the incidence of diabetes was 10-20 times greater in subjects with IGT or IFG compared to those with NG.

Abstract

Keywords:
Diabetes – HbA1c – IFG – IGT – OGTT – Plasma glucose