Age- and Sex-Specific Prevalences of Diabetes and Impaired Glucose Regulation in 13 European Cohorts

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To report the age- and sex-specific prevalences of diabetes and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) according to the revised 1999 World Health Organization criteria for diabetes in Europe. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A total of 13 studies from nine European countries with 7,680 men and 9,251 women aged 30–89 years were included in the data analysis. RESULTS—In most of the study populations, the age-specific prevalences of diabetes were 70 years of age). More than half of the diabetes was undiagnosed in subjects younger than 50 years of age. CONCLUSIONS—Most European populations have a moderate to low prevalence of diabetes and IGR. Diabetes and IGR will be underestimated in Europe, particularly in women and in elderly men, if diagnoses are based on fasting glucose determination alone.