The scope of diabetes in the United States population.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M I Harris.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The prevalence of physician-diagnosed diabetes and of undiagnosed diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) that meet National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria have been estimated for the U.S. population aged 20-74 yr from the 1976-1980 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This survey included a demographic/medical history questionnaire administered in the participant's home and a detailed examination composed of a physician's exam, special clinical procedures, other tests, and collection of blood and urine specimens. Survey participants were selected from 1970 census data through a stratified multistage probability sampling scheme. Of 17,390 eligible residents aged 20-74 yr, 15,357 (88.3%) participated in the interview and are the basis for estimates of diagnosed diabetes; 11,858 (68%) participated in the exam. A half sample of 5901 examinees was selected to receive a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) performed in the morning after an overnight 10- to 16-h fast. Of these examinees, valid OGTT data were obtained for 3772 people without a medical history of diabetes, and these are the basis for estimates of undiagnosed diabetes and IGT. The major reasons for incomplete OGTT data were inability of participants to attend the examination center in the morning and lack of adherence to the fasting instructions. Despite the relatively low response rates, evidence is presented that data on both the interviewed sample and those receiving the OGTT, when adjusted for the 1970-1980 census characteristics by age, race, sex, income, and geographic location, are representative of the U.S. population. Extrapolation of these data to the U.S. population aged 20-74 yr indicates a total diabetes prevalence of 6.6% by NDDG criteria, or more than 8 million people with diabetes. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes (3.2%) was almost equal to that of previously diagnosed diabetes (3.4%). Total rates of diabetes increased with age, from 2.0% at age 20-44 yr to 17.7% at age 65-74 yr. Rates were approximately equal by sex but were greater in Blacks than in Whites. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes by WHO criteria (3.4%) was similar to that by NDDG criteria, but the rate of impaired glucose tolerance (11.2%) was more than twice the NDDG estimate (4.6%). Both obesity and parental history of diabetes were associated with significantly higher rates of diabetes and IGT. Fasting plasma glucose was relatively insensitive to age, but 1-h and 2-h post-75-g glucose values increased significantly with age.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes has become a common condition in the US, comprising one-third of all cases of the disease. We believe that screening for and detection of undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes is an important endeavor. In this review we provide evidence that diabetes is a condition that is appropriate for population screening and detection. This includes evidence that: 1. Type 2 diabetes is a significant health problem. It affects more than 16 million adults in the US and places these individuals at high risk for serious complications of the eyes, nerves, kidneys, and cardiovascular system. 2. There is a latent phase before diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. During this period of undiagnosed disease, risk factors for diabetic micro- and macrovascular complications are markedly elevated and diabetic complications are developing. 3. Diagnostic criteria for diabetes have been established and are based on plasma glucose values. These criteria define a group of individuals with significant hyperglycemia who also have a high frequency of risk factors for micro- and macrovascular disease. 4. The natural history of Type 2 diabetes is understood. In most patients, diabetes proceeds inexorably from genetic predisposition, through the stage of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, to beta cell failure and overt clinical disease. 5. There are effective and acceptable therapies available for Type 2 diabetes and its complications. Treating hyperglycemia to prevent complications is more effective than treating these complications after they have developed. Furthermore, guidelines for treatment to prevent cardiovascular disease in people known to have diabetes are more stringent than in those individuals who are not known to have diabetes. 6. There is a suitable test for screening for undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes that has high sensitivity and specificity - measurement of fasting plasma glucose. Guidelines for identifying persons at high risk for diabetes have been established.
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) constitutes two-thirds of all glucose intolerance in the United States and is a major risk factor for diabetes. Despite these findings, the clinical and epidemiological significance of IGT has not been well investigated. The Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional study in which 75-g 2-h oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) were performed, has provided an opportunity to examine the characteristics of IGT in the U.S. population. Data from the survey have been extrapolated to represent all U.S. residents. The findings indicate that approximately 11.2% of Americans aged 20-74 yr have IGT compared to 6.6% with diabetes. Rates of IGT increased with age for White men and women and Black men but declined for Black women greater than 54 yr of age, possibly because greater obesity in Black women precipitated earlier conversion of IGT to diabetes. The distribution of 2-h glucose values showed IGT to be part of a continuum of glucose intolerance extending from normal to diabetes. Individuals with IGT had rates of risk factors for non-insulin-dependent diabetes (age, plasma glucose, past obesity, family history of diabetes, physical inactivity) that were intermediate between those of individuals with normal glucose tolerance and those with diabetes, although current obesity was similar for IGT and diabetes. The proportion of people with medical histories of diabetes-related conditions did not differ between IGT and normal glucose tolerance. However, several cardiovascular findings were more prevalent in individuals with IGT than in those with normal glucose tolerance, including hypertension, serum cholesterol, angina, abnormal heart findings, and medical history of arteriosclerosis and stroke. Both obesity and reported family history of diabetes were associated with higher rates of IGT, with the effect of weight gain on the prevalence of IGT occurring at lower levels than for diabetes.
International agreement on classification and criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes is highly desirable. Two systems promulgated in 1979-80 and widely used today are those of the NIH National Diabetes Data Group (NDDG) and of the World Health Organization (WHO). Although these systems are similar in many ways, certain discrepancies between them result in different classifications of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) results and different estimates of prevalence of the various glucose tolerance groups. Analysis of 3704 OGTTs performed during a survey of a national probability sample of U.S. residents without known diabetes and aged 20-74 yr shows that the two systems agreed in classification of 87.7% of OGTTs. For the remainder, the NDDG and WHO classifications differed, primarily because nondiagnostic OGTTs occur in the NDDG system but not in the WHO system. The differences resulted in the prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) using WHO criteria (11.6%) being more than twice that using NDDG criteria (4.9%), although prevalence rates of diabetic OGTTs were similar in both systems (3.6%, 3.4%). The WHO system represents a simpler, inclusive classification scheme, and there is insufficient evidence from longitudinal studies of prognostic differences that would justify the more complicated NDDG diagnostic criteria. In situations where multiple venipunctures or retesting are not possible, the venous plasma glucose concentration at 2 h after 75 g glucose appears to be the most appropriate single value to use to designate whether a person has diabetes, IGT, or neither. The use of this value alone placed 97% of diabetic subjects and all other subjects, in the same class they were in when the full WHO criteria were used.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.