The incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Philippines: a 9-year cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
Currently, there are no available data on the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Philippines. A cohort derived from a national study population (FNRI-NNS, 1998) was revisited after 9 years to yield valuable data on glucose homeostasis among Filipinos.


METHODS
Six out of 13 national regions were included in the cohort. There were 1749 out of 2122 respondents (82.4%). 1386 (95.9%) consented to a fasting blood glucose (FBG) test, and 1275 (88.2%) completed the 2h post-glucose (2HPG) load determination using whole blood capillary samples.


RESULTS
We observed a significant increase of mean FBGs (91.5mg/dL to 103.3mg/dL) from 1998 to 2007. The 9-year incidence of T2DM was 16.3%. The prevalence of T2DM was 28.0%. The prevalence of pre-diabetes, i.e., combined impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was 31.3%; IFG was 17.5% and IGT was 23.9%.


CONCLUSIONS
The study shows the alarming growth of diabetes, IFG, and IGT in our country that warrants early aggressive intervention for prevention and management. We encourage the use of 2h post-glucose load aside from FBG in screening for true diabetics, IFGs, and IGTs.
Soria
Maria Luz B
ML
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Cardiovascular Institute, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, University of the Philippines, Philippines. malusoriamd2003@yahoo.com
Sy
Rody G
RG
Vega
Bernard S
BS
Ty-Willing
Tommy
T
Abenir-Gallardo
Angela
A
Velandria
Felicidad
F
Punzalan
Felix Eduardo
FE
D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005215:Fasting; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010679:Philippines / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
D001786:Blood Glucose