Epidemiology of known diabetes in Lombardy, north Italy. Clinical characteristics and methodological aspects.
Diabetes epidemiology can benefit in Italy from the large network of outpatient diabetic clinics and patients' facilities. A large investigation was carried out in 1988, in a certain area of northern Italy, to estimate the prevalence of known diabetes. Using four information sources, 4547 distinct patients were identified. Through the capture-recapture method we assessed completeness and estimated a prevalence of 3.3%. Prevalence of type 1 diabetes was 0.8 per 1000. Italian age-standardised overall prevalence and developed-world standardised rates were 2.8% and 2.6%, respectively. A representative sample of 2358 patients was characterised through a standard questionnaire. Women were diagnosed about 6 years later than men (58.8 +/- 0.4 vs 52.9 +/- 0.4, P < 0.0001), while the duration of the disease was very similar in both sexes (9.9 +/- 0.2 vs 9.5 +/- 0.2). As regards diabetes therapy, 17.2% of the patients were on diet alone, 62.1% on oral agents and 20.6% on insulin. Among the insulin-treated subjects more than half were on adjuvant therapy with tablets, and only 6.2% were treated with 3 injections/day. Less than half of all the known diabetic subjects had had an ophthalmoscopic examination in the previous 2 years.
Garancini
M P
MP
Medical Statistics and Epidemiology Unit, University of Milan, Italy.
Sergi
A
A
Lazzari
P
P
Gallus
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003710:Demography; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D003927:Diet, Diabetic; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin