Increasing trend in the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes in the Chinese rural and urban population in Qingdao, China.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the secular trend of prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes in a Chinese population from 2001 to 2006.


METHODS
Two consecutive population-based surveys for diabetes were conducted in a randomly selected population aged 35-74 years and living in Qingdao, China in 2001-2002 (n = 10854) and 2006 (n = 4416). All participants underwent standardized 2-h 75-g oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs), along with fasting capillary plasma glucose (FCG) tests in 2006. One urban community underwent OGTTs directly in 2002 (n = 1815), while a two-step screening strategy using FCG as a first-line screening test followed by OGTTs was used in 9039 individuals in 2001. Diabetes and pre-diabetes was defined according to the 2006 World Health Organization/International Diabetes Federation criteria.


RESULTS
Based on the results of direct OGTTs, the age-standardized prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in urban areas was 12.2 and 15.4% in 2002, whereas the prevalences were 18.8 and 28.7% in urban areas and 14.1 and 20.2% in rural areas in 2006 (P < 0.001, in urban areas). Using the two-step screening strategy, the prevalence of diabetes in 2001 was 10.1% in urban and 7.7% in rural areas and 13.8% in urban and 12.2% in rural areas in 2006 (P < 0.001). Based on the data of the 2006 survey, the two-step screening strategy missed 30.2% of diabetes cases when compared with the number defined by the direct OGTT approach.


CONCLUSIONS
Qingdao has experienced a marked increase in the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the past 5 years. Intervention to prevent a further increase in the prevalence of diabetes is urgently required.
Gao
W G
WG
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland. Gao.Weiguo@ktl.fi
Dong
Y H
YH
Pang
Z C
ZC
Nan
H R
HR
Zhang
L
L
Wang
S J
SJ
Ren
J
J
Ning
F
F
Qiao
Q
Q
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D018149:Glucose Intolerance / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D001786:Blood Glucose