Abstract
BackgroundDemographic and anthropometric factors associated with the age at diagnosis of diabetes have not been extensively studied. Much of the literature using anthropometric measures has been associated with other health factors such as obesity and coronary heart disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between different sets of anthropometric factors and age of diabetes diagnosis in the United States.MethodsUsing the NHANES 2015–2016 data set, weighted linear regression analysis was performed on observations from 600 qualified individuals with diabetes to study associations between anthropometric and demographic factors and the age of diabetes diagnosis.ResultsResults of our analysis support the evidence of significant relationships between the anthropometric characteristics and demographic factors and age at diabetes diagnosis. Specifically, age at diagnosis of diabetes is predicted to decrease by 1.03 (p < 0.01) and 0.91 (p < 0.01) years when BMI and upper leg length go up by one unit each, respectively. Similarly, age at diagnosis of diabetes decreases by 0.02 years and by 1.72 years when refrigerated glucose serum increases by 1 mg/dL (p < 0.05) and when household size increases by one person, respectively. Male respondents were diagnosed with diabetes 3.41 years later than their female counterparts. Conversely, age at diagnosis of diabetes increases by 1.24 years when the average sagittal abdominal diameter goes up by 1 cm (p < 0.05). In addition, Mexican American respondents were diagnosed 5.00 years younger than the non-Hispanic White counterparts.ConclusionsOur findings show that anthropometric factors, including BMI, refrigerated glucose serum and upper leg length increase have an inverse linear association with age of diabetes diagnosis. The results of this study can help improve the efficiency of the methods of health professionals attempting to lower the rate of diabetes diagnoses.
Highlights
Demographic and anthropometric factors associated with the age at diagnosis of diabetes have not been extensively studied
The high proportions of diabetes are alarming and conjure up important questions for practice efforts toward prevention and disease management, about the measurable connection between physical characteristics of the human body and the age at which the symptoms may arise or the age at diabetes diagnosis. These dimensional measurements are known as anthropometric measurements and are operationally defined by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III [NHANES] as the “study of the measurement of the human body in terms of the dimensions of bone, muscle, and adipose tissue.” [3]
One measurable characteristic that is common in obesity studies is the use of the body mass index (BMI), which is used to “screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems such as diabetes.” [5] A study [6] noted that abdominal obesity, “is a major driver in the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”
Summary
Demographic and anthropometric factors associated with the age at diagnosis of diabetes have not been extensively studied. The high proportions of diabetes are alarming and conjure up important questions for practice efforts toward prevention and disease management, about the measurable connection between physical characteristics of the human body and the age at which the symptoms may arise or the age at diabetes diagnosis. These dimensional measurements are known as anthropometric measurements and are operationally defined by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III [NHANES] as the “study of the measurement of the human body in terms of the dimensions of bone, muscle, and adipose tissue.” [3]. The same study reported that among men, SAD had the strongest correlation of all of the studied variables, including scaling with the largest variation in insulin sensitivity, suggesting the strongest anthropometric association of any study
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