The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among the elderly of seven cities in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Health Wellbeing and Aging (SABE) Project.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relation of diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) to the level of education and body mass index (BMI) among the elderly of seven cities using data from SABE.


METHODS
The SABE survey was based on a probabilistic sample of the elderly population.


RESULTS
Results: The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among the elderly was 15.7% (95% CI 14.7-16.8), with the highest prevalence reported in Bridgetown and the lowest in Buenos Aires.


CONCLUSIONS
There was a high prevalence of diagnosed DM among the elderly of the seven cities. The prevalence of diagnosed DM was strongly associated with BMI and low education. The inclusion of these factors in policies and programs aiming to reduce the prevalence of diabetes among the elderly is recommended.
Barceló
Alberto
A
Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd St. NW, Washington, DC 20037-2895, USA. barceloa@paho.org.
Peláez
Martha
M
Rodriguez-Wong
Laura
L
Pastor-Valero
Maria
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D004522:Educational Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors