Study of the Prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus and IGT in the Community.

Objectives: Since Korea has been going through a rapid westernization we hypothesize that the rates of diabetes mellitus may begin to be more similar to that seen in the United States or Europe. To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance(IGT) in Yonchon County of Korea, we performed a population-based survey on diabetes mellitus with random cluster sampling of residents>29 yr of age using oral glucose tolerance test(QGTT). Methods: The study was based on a population- based cross-sectional study with random cluster sampling of residents>29 yr of age. Of 3804 registered residents over 29 yr of age, a total of 2520 (66%) participants had a standard 75g OGTT, completed a detailed questionnaire and had standard anthropometric data collected. Resuls: The raw prevalence of diabetes was 9.1%, and the prevalence of IGT was 11.8%. The prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes(4.7%) was almost 1.4 times higher than that of previously diagnosed diabetes(3.3%). The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of diabetes mellitus and IGT in people over 30yrs of age, as assessed by the 1990 Korea Population Census, were 7.4 and 9.7%, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of diabetes in Yonchon County was substantially higher than previously suggested. The high ratio of the numbers of undiagnosed to diagnosed cases is also of important concern. There has been a need to investigate these increasing prevalence using the same comparative methodologies.