Prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in 64-year-old Swedish women: experiences of using repeated oral glucose tolerance tests.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in middle-aged women and to examine the variability and practical use of the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in the screening for IGT and diabetes.


METHODS
All 64-year-old women living in Göteborg, Sweden, were invited to take part in a screening examination (n = 4,856). Of these, 82% (n = 3,998) responded and 53% (n = 2,595) participated and underwent anthropometric measurements and a 75-g standardized OGTT that was repeated within 2 weeks in those not showing normal glucose tolerance (NGT).


RESULTS
The prevalences of known and new diabetes, IGT at both OGTTs, and impaired fasting glucose were 4.7, 4.8, 14.4, and 6.4%, respectively. Half of the women with diabetes were previously undiagnosed, and 37% of the diagnoses were based on OGTT and diabetes 2-h values at both or one of the two examinations. Women with IGT at both OGTTs, in comparison with those with one impaired and one normal OGTT, had higher BMI, waist girth, and blood pressure. More than 40% of the women showed impaired glucose metabolism.


CONCLUSIONS
Among these women, the prevalence of undetected diabetes was high and repeated OGTTs were needed to identify and not misclassify a considerable proportion of patients. The degree of glucose tolerance impairment and the number of abnormal OGTTs were directly associated with occurrence of components of the metabolic syndrome.
Brohall
Gerhard
G
Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research, Institute of Internal Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. brohall@wlab.gu.se
Behre
Carl-Johan
CJ
Hulthe
Johannes
J
Wikstrand
John
J
Fagerberg
Björn
B
D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio