Familial history: a risk factor of type 2 diabetes among the “Aggarwal” population of Delhi, India

Abstract

Anthropologically, the majority of Indian population structure could be discerned in terms of different endogamous population groups (who marry between the clans), but unfortunately we still remain unaware about the epidemiological burden of type 2 diabetes (T2D) among different endogamous groups in India. We assessed the effect of family history on the risk of T2D among the Aggarwal (endogamous caste group) population of Delhi, a hospital-based case-control association study among the target population group of Delhi. Sixty percent of the cases reported familial history of type 2 diabetes. We found that the family history of T2D among Aggarwals significantly increases the odds of disease to 2.3 (confidence interval; 1.5041 to 3.5077). Cultural hallmarks, e.g., sedentary lifestyle, high socioeconomic status, and fat-enriched vegetarian dietary habits (86 %; pure-vegetarian) were noted in the present population. These factors correlated with age, waist to hip ratio, and blood pressure, which were important indicators for T2D in our study. The family history is a pertinent risk factor of T2D in this population group and can robustly predict the risk of T2D in their family and kinship. We suggest that the familial history of diabetes can be used as a potential public health tool for conducting population and culture-based epidemiological surveys that are required for better understanding of susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.