Diabetes Care, Vol 23, Issue 2 181-186, Copyright © 2000 by American Diabetes Association
Prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in three American Indian populations. A comparison of the 1997 American Diabetes Association diagnostic criteria and the 1985 World Health Organization diagnostic criteria: the Strong Heart Study
ET Lee, BV Howard, O Go, PJ Savage, RR Fabsitz, DC Robbins and TK Welty
Center for American Indian Health Research, College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City 73190, USA.
OBJECTIVE: In 1997, the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and
Classification of Diabetes Mellitus of the American Diabetes Association
(ADA) recommended three new sets of criteria for the diagnosis of diabetes
that were different from those established by the World Health Organization
(WHO) in 1985. One of these three methods was based on a fasting plasma
glucose value only. This article compares ADA criteria with WHO criteria by
applying them to three subgroups of American Indians in the Strong Heart
Study who had no known diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Strong
Heart Study is a prospective epidemiological study of vascular disease in
three American Indian populations aged 45-74 years. During the baseline
examination from 1988 to 1991, participants without diagnosed diabetes
underwent a fasting glucose test and a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test.
These values were used to compare the ADA and WHO diagnostic criteria.
RESULTS: By using fasting and 2-h glucose values, prevalence rates of
undiagnosed diabetes were 15.9% according to WHO criteria and 14.4%
according to ADA criteria. The overall agreement rate was 65%, and the
weighted kappa statistic was 0.474, which indicates moderate agreement. The
age-specific analysis showed that, among participants between 45 and 54
years of age, the prevalence rates of undiagnosed diabetes were 13.4%
according to WHO criteria and 12.7% according to ADA criteria. Among those
aged 55-74 years, the rates were 18.7% according to WHO criteria and 16.3%
according to ADA criteria. Thus, the difference in the prevalence rates
when using WHO and ADA criteria, although generally small in this
population, was three times higher in the older group (2.4%) than the
difference in the younger group (0.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The Strong Heart Study
found that prevalence rates of undiagnosed diabetes determined by ADA
criteria and WHO criteria were similar in its American Indian population.
The data suggest that the difference between the two criteria may increase
as age increases. Longitudinal data will be needed to evaluate further the
utility of the two criteria.