Biomaterial Database

Prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance among Navajo Indians. 1992

J R Sugarman, and T J Gilbert, and N S Weiss

Navajo Area Diabetes Program, Navajo Area Indian Health Service, Shiprock, New Mexico.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance and the incidence of clinically diagnosed diabetes in a community of Navajo Indians. METHODS We conducted a survey of a representative Navajo community screened for diabetes 3 yr previously. We used 75-g oral glucose tolerance tests to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance and conducted medical record reviews to identify cases of diabetes that were diagnosed during routine medical care after the earlier study. RESULTS By World Health Organization diagnostic criteria, the age-adjusted diabetes prevalence among 419 Navajo Indians 20-74 yr of age was 13.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.2-18.5) for men and 18.4% (95% CI 14-22.8) for women. The ratio of the prevalence of diabetes among the Navajo population studied to that in the general United States population was 2.5. The prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance was 8% (95% CI 3.3-12.7) among men and 12.9% (95% CI 7.9-17.9) among women. Based on clinical diagnoses of diabetes made during routine medical care, mean +/- SE age-adjusted incidence of diagnosed diabetes among men was 8.6 +/- 4.3/1000 person-yr and 11.1 +/- 4.4/1000 person-yr among women. CONCLUSIONS Although lower than that of some other tribes, the prevalence of diabetes among Navajo Indians is substantially higher than that in the general U.S. population. The high rate of clinical diagnoses suggests that the prevalence of the disease may continue to rise.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007198	Indians, North American	Members of indigenous North American populations with pre-colonial contact origins.	Amerinds, North American,Indigenous North Americans,American Indian, North,American, Indigenous North,Amerind, North American,Indian, North American,Indigenous North American,North American Amerind,North American Amerinds,North American Indian,North American Indians,North American, Indigenous
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009516	New Mexico	State bounded on the north by Colorado, on the east by Oklahoma and Texas, on the south by Texas and Mexico, and on the west by Arizona.
D001786	Blood Glucose	Glucose in blood.	Blood Sugar,Glucose, Blood,Sugar, Blood
D003920	Diabetes Mellitus	A heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by HYPERGLYCEMIA and GLUCOSE INTOLERANCE.
D005260	Female		Females
D005951	Glucose Tolerance Test	A test to determine the ability of an individual to maintain HOMEOSTASIS of BLOOD GLUCOSE. It includes measuring blood glucose levels in a fasting state, and at prescribed intervals before and after oral glucose intake (75 or 100 g) or intravenous infusion (0.5 g/kg).	Intravenous Glucose Tolerance,Intravenous Glucose Tolerance Test,OGTT,Oral Glucose Tolerance,Oral Glucose Tolerance Test,Glucose Tolerance Tests,Glucose Tolerance, Oral
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D006943	Hyperglycemia	Abnormally high BLOOD GLUCOSE level.	Postprandial Hyperglycemia,Hyperglycemia, Postprandial,Hyperglycemias,Hyperglycemias, Postprandial,Postprandial Hyperglycemias