Abstract
Aims: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has reached epidemic proportions among adults worldwide, with China having the world's largest population of individuals with the disease. Although the consequences of low rates of awareness, treatment, and control of DM are understood, sex-related differences in these rates remain unknown. We assessed sex-related differences in the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of DM in a low-income, rural population in China.Materials and Methods: Individuals ≥45 years old without cardiovascular disease were recruited into this study. The prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of DM in both men and women were assessed after accounting for age, educational level, body mass index, and blood pressure.Results: A total of 3,725 participants (women, 58.8%) were included. A male preponderance in the prevalence of DM was found among individuals aged 45–54 years, whereas there was a female preponderance among patients aged 65–74 years and among those who were illiterate. Among individuals with >6 years of formal education, overweight individuals, and normotensive individuals, there was greater DM awareness among women than among men. There was also a higher DM treatment rate among overweight women than among overweight men. However, better disease control was observed among men than among women for individuals aged 55–64-years, those with 1–6 years of education, and those with stage II hypertension.Conclusions: These results suggest that DM awareness should be improved among men and that regular DM screening should be implemented for men, especially young men. In addition, disease education and management should be strengthened for elderly women, especially those with low levels of education. Further studies are necessary to explore this situation among a representative population sample in China in order to establish a valid protocol against DM.
Highlights
DM is an important worldwide public health issue [1, 2]
The study methods were conducted according to the approved guidelines, and informed consent was obtained from all participants
3725 subjects were enrolled in the study, after excluding 223 residents with histories of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or stroke and 64 subjects without fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level measurements
Summary
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) predicts that the number of people with DM will increase from 240 million in 2007 to 380 million by 2025 and will further increase to 439 million by 2030 [3, 4]. In 2013, China already had the world’s largest population of individuals with DM [5], and the number of people with DM is estimated to increase to 42.3 million by 2030 [6]. According to the IDF, 13% of China’s 2010 health expenditure (USD $25 billion) was attributed to diabetes management [7]. These findings highlight the grim situation of the diabetes epidemic in China
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