Higher Prevalence of Undiagnosed Diabetes in Urban Adult Indian Population than in South Asians Living in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a metabolic disorder with high levels of glucose due to absolute insulin deficiency or relative insulin deficiency (insulin resistance) affects about 20 percent of adults in South Asia (SA) in the United Kingdom (UK). This is similar to that of urban Indian population, where the incidence is about 15 percent. Despite this, there is a scarcity of data comparing SA with that of the Indian urban community in the UK. Objective: The aim of the present study was to study the prevalence and differences of undiagnosed diabetes and associated risk factors between the urban adult Indian populations living in Bangalore and in South Asians residing in the UK. Materials and Methods: The general publics above age of 30 (adult) were encouraged to come for general checkup including capillary blood glucose test during public health events held at various town halls in UK. In the UK, nearly 230 SA adults were screened at 3 separate events held in Preston, Bolton and London. While in Bangalore, at 4 events were held at mosques and the community centres and 412 adult subjects were tested. Subjects known to have diabetes (DM) were analyzed separately from those that were not known to have diabetes (non-DM. Clinical monitoring of anthropometric data and random levels of capillary blood glucose were analyzed. Results: We found that 14.6 % and 42.7% of subjects had previously documented diabetes in the UK and India, respectively (P<0.001). No characteristic differences in age and BMI were found between the subjects of SA in the UK and those in India. In Bangalore, more men (69%) attended screening programme compared to the UK (14.6 percent). Of people without history of diabetes 30.1% of Indians in urban Bangalore had elevated blood sugar in comparison to SA in the UK (10.8%). Conclusion: There is an urgent need to perform screening of adult population for diabetes in urban India, where almost 20% people have impaired glucose tolerance.