Prevalence of Diabetes and Timaired Glucose Tolerance in Villagers Older than 30 Years in Zanjan

In order to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its related factors in remote areas of Zanjan Province, this stud was performed in 1996. 1997 persons older than 30 years of age 706 (36%) male and 1271 (64%) female were selected by random sampling from all rural areas in Zanjan. FBS and 2h postprandial BS following 75 gm glucose were determined. In second stage, full 2h GTT was performed in all of those with abnormal glucosc tolerance and a control group. 3.8% of people (3.6% of males and 4 % of females) had diabetes and 48% of them did not knoun the diagnosis. 3.4% (1.9% of males and 4% of females) and IGT. Prevalence of diabetes and IGT increased with age: in female, it was 2.3%in 30-39 and 11.9% in 70-79 year age groups (P<0.001); corresponding values for males were: 2.6 and 5.6% (P<0.001). 30% of diabetics and 5% of normals had family history of diabetes (P<0.001). In rcpcated GTT, 94% of IGT people had IGT, 4% normal and 2% diabetes. All diabetic people in first screening had diabetic GTT in 2nd stage. When NDDG criteria was used, 3.9% of normals, 10% of IGT and 4.3% of diabetic subjects could not be located in any categorie. It is concluded that prevalence of diabetes and IGT is lower in villagers of Zanjan than in urban areas in Iran. We recommend WHO rather than NDDG criteria for epidemiologic surveys.