Periodontal disease status in gullah african americans with type 2 diabetes living in South Carolina.
BACKGROUND
African Americans have a disproportionate burden of diabetes. Gullah African Americans are the most genetically homogeneous population of African descent in the United States, with an estimated European admixture of only 3.5%. This study assessed the previously unknown prevalence of periodontal disease among a sample of Gullah African Americans with diabetes and investigated the association between diabetes control and the presence of periodontal disease.


METHODS
Two hundred thirty-five Gullah African Americans with type 2 diabetes were included. Diabetes control was assessed by percentage of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and divided into three categories: well controlled, <7%; moderately controlled, 7% to 8.5%; and poorly controlled, >8.5%. Participants were categorized as healthy (no clinical attachment loss [AL] or bleeding on probing) or as having early periodontitis (clinical AL > or =1 mm in at least two teeth), moderate periodontitis (three sites with clinical AL > or =4 mm and at least two sites with probing depth [PD] > or =3 mm), or severe periodontitis (clinical AL > or =6 mm in at least two teeth and PD > or =5 mm in at least one site). Observed prevalences of periodontitis were compared to rates reported for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) studies.


RESULTS
All subjects had evidence of periodontal disease: 70.6% had moderate periodontitis and 28.5% had severe disease. Diabetes control was not associated with periodontal disease. The periodontal disease proportions were significantly higher than the reported national prevalence of 10.6% among African Americans without diabetes.


CONCLUSIONS
Our sample of Gullah African Americans with type 2 diabetes exhibited a higher prevalence of periodontal disease compared to African Americans, with and without diabetes, as reported in NHANES III and NHANES 1999-2000.
Fernandes
Jyotika K
JK
Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. fernanjk@musc.edu
Wiegand
Ryan E
RE
Salinas
Carlos F
CF
Grossi
Sara G
SG
Sanders
John J
JJ
Lopes-Virella
Maria F
MF
Slate
Elizabeth H
EH
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin