Prevalence and risk factors of diabetes mellitus: a community-based sectional survey

Background: The prevalence of diabetes in China has increased by nearly 18 times from 0.67% in 1980 to 12.8% in 2020. The incidence has occurred with regional diversity, following different climates, diet, and lifestyle. This study aimed to explore the glucose metabolism status and analyze the risk factors for diabetes among over 45-year-old inhabitants from the Shanghai Songjiang district.

Methods: A total of 1,213 subjects without diabetes history, thyroid dysfunction history, or other diagnosed diseases were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, all of whom were over 45 years old and from the Shanghai Songjiang district. All subjects participated in a complete physical examination and clinical history collection including name, gender, age, history of drinking and smoking, and presence of other disease. Fasting glucose, postprandial glucose, biochemical, and other metabolic parameters were measured in all subjects.

Results: According to the WHO [1990] Standard, the normal glucose regulation (NGR), impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), combined glucose impaired (CGI), and newly diagnosis diabetes mellitus (NDDM) were defined and grouped. Among 1,213 subjects in this area, 50.2% had abnormal glucose, including 36.5% with pre-diabetes (PD) and 13.7% with NDDM. We substantiated that hyper-glucose was positively associated with age, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, fat mass, fat percentage, total triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate in this study. We also found the prevalence of hyper-glucose occurred mainly in women in the 56-60-year-old age group and in men in the 61-65-year-old age group in this area. The overweight rate of male subjects with abnormal glucose was 61.9%, while in females this was 56.3%, especially the central obesity ratio, which reached 91.4% among the female hyper-glucose subjects.

Conclusions: In the Shanghai Songjiang district, 56-60-year-old female subjects who were overweight and with central obesity were apt to abnormal glucose regulation. Community-based diabetes management is an important approach for screening diabetes and high-risk factors to reduce the risk and financial burden of individuals and the society.