Glycemic Variability and Its Association With Demographics and Lifestyles in a General Adult Population.
The objective was to investigate glycemic variability indices in relation to demographic factors and common environmental lifestyles in a general adult population.



The A Estrada Glycation and Inflammation Study is a cross-sectional study covering 1516 participants selected by sampling of the population aged 18 years and over. A subsample of 622 individuals participated in the Glycation project, which included continuous glucose monitoring procedures. Five glycemic variability indices were analyzed, that is, SD, MAGE, MAG, CONGA1, and MODD.



Participants had a mean age of 48 years, 62% were females, and 12% had been previously diagnosed with diabetes. In the population without diabetes, index distributions were not normal but skewed to the right. Distributional regression models that adjusted for age, gender, BMI, alcohol intake, smoking status, and physical activity confirmed that all indices were positively and independently associated with fasting glucose levels and negatively with heavy drinking. SD, MAGE, and CONGA1 were positively associated with aging, and MAG was negatively associated with BMI. None of the GVI studied were influenced by physical activity. Age-group-specific reference values are given for the indices.



This study yielded age-specific reference values for glucose variability indices in a general adult population. Significant increases were observed with aging. Heavy drinking of more than 140 g/week was associated with significant decreases in variability indices. No differences were found between males and females. These normative ranges provide a guide for clinical care, and may offer an alternative treatment target among persons with diabetes.
1 Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Francisco
F
Gude
1 Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Pablo
P
Díaz-Vidal
1 Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.|2 Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Cintia
C
Rúa-Pérez
1 Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.|3 Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Manuela
M
Alonso-Sampedro
4 Primary Care Center of A-Estrada, Pontevedra, Spain.
Carmen
C
Fernández-Merino
4 Primary Care Center of A-Estrada, Pontevedra, Spain.
Jesús
J
Rey-García
2 Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Carmen
C
Cadarso-Suárez
5 Department of Endocrinology, Hospital de Conxo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Marcos
M
Pazos-Couselo
5 Department of Endocrinology, Hospital de Conxo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
José Manuel
JM
García-López
3 Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Arturo
A
Gonzalez-Quintela
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D012016:Reference Values; D012907:Smoking; D055815:Young Adult
D005947:Glucose
continuous glucose monitoring; glucose variability; reference values