Mean fasting blood glucose level and an estimated prevalence of diabetes mellitus among a representative adult Korean population

Kim, Jung Soon; Kim, Young Joon; Park, Sun Ill; Hong, Young Pyo

Abstract

This study was carried out along with the 1990 6th National Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey in order to estimated the prevalence rate of diabetes mellitus among a representative adult Korean population. Fasting blood glucose was measured by diastix(Ames) using glucometer II for seventy seven percent of the population(30 years old or above) residing in 190 enumeration districts randomly sampled from 146,944 general ED. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus of the population was estimated by projecting the ratio of > or = 200 mg/dl PP2 of fasting blood sugar level below 120 by sex to the study population. Fasting blood glucose and 2hr. postprandial blood glucose were measured on about 3000 subsampled individuals, and diabetes mellitus was defined by the WHO criteria-FBG > or = 120 mg/dl or PP2 > or = 200 mg/dl when FBG is below 120 mg/dl. The results obtained are as follows: 1. Estimated prevalence(age adjusted) of diabetes mellitus was 4.6% for male 8.1% for female. The age adjusted mean FBG was 93.9+/-26.2mg/dl for male and 102.9+/-31.5mg/dl for female. 2. The prevalence increased as age advanced with peak in 60~69 years old age group for both sexes. 3. The mean FBG and estimated prevalence rate of diabetes mellitus varied considerably among the populations of fifteen cities and provinces ; it varied from 87.0+/-17.7 to 104.6+/-34.5mg/dl and 1.2% to 8.9% for males, and from 93.3+/-25.3 to 116.7+/-38.6 mg/dl and 3.4% to 20.8% for females. 4. The mean FBG and prevalence rates were higher among the rural population than those residing in metropolitan areas. 5. The proportion of the people previously treated among the diabetics was estimated to be a little less than one fifth. 6. Factors strongly associated with FBG were age, sex, family history of D. M., BMI, area and educational level among eleven variables.