title: Age and living in an urban environment are major determinants of diabetes among South Kivu Congolese adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to determine the risk factors for diabetes mellitus (DM) in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multilevel sampling identified 200 households (444 adults aged ≥ 20 years) from 20 neighbourhoods in the city of Bukavu, and 90 households (255 adults aged ≥ 20 years) from 10 villages in the Kaziba (South Kivu) chiefdom (the South Kivu VITARAA study). DM was defined as a personal history of the disorder or a casual glycaemia greater or equal to 200 mg/dL. Standardization according to age and sample readjustment based on the urban-rural distribution of the population was applied accordance with the typical Congolese population. The probability of DM was assessed by multiple logistic regressions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total prevalence of DM was 3.5%. DM was significantly more prevalent in urban areas (age-standardized prevalence: 4.0%) than in rural areas (1.7%). City-dwelling DM patients were characterized by higher rates of indices of abdominal obesity (P < 0.05) whereas, in rural areas, no patients were obese. In the study group as a whole, only 25.0% of diabetic patients were obese. On multivariate analyses, only age [adjusted OR (95% CI): 4.79 (1.60-14.25); P = 0.004] was independently associated with the prevalence of DM, while the effect of obesity was not significant [2.64 (0.99-7.02); P = 0.051].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Age and living in an urban environment appeared to be major determinants of DM in South Kivu. Also, obesity prevalence was relatively low in these diabetic patients, confirming the peculiar, relatively lean, phenotype of type 2 DM in indigenous sub-Saharan Africans.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Bukavu, P.B 285, 2, Michombero Street, South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. philkatch@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katchunga
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Masumbuko
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belma
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kashongwe Munogolo
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hermans
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: M'buyamba-Kabangu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003223:Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005215:Fasting; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010641:Phenotype; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides