Undiagnosed glucose intolerance in the community: the Isle of Ely Diabetes Project

TLDR: In multiple regression analyses stratified by gender and including age, body mass index, and the waist‐hip ratio as covariates, there were significant differences between those with normal and abnormal glucose intolerance in blood pressure, triglyceride, and HDL‐cholesterol, but not total or LDL‐ch cholesterol.

Abstract: The Isle of Ely Diabetes Project is a prospective population-based study of the aetiology and pathogenesis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Between 1990 and 1992, 1156 subjects aged between 40 and 65 years underwent a standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). A total of 1122 individuals who were not known to have diabetes completed the test and were classified according to WHO criteria; 51 subjects (4.5%) had previously undiagnosed diabetes and 188 (16.7%) had impaired glucose tolerance. The subjects with newly diagnosed glucose intolerance were significantly older, more obese, and shorter than those with normal glucose tolerance. Blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were elevated and HDL-cholesterol levels were lower among those with abnormal rather than normal glucose tolerance. In multiple regression analyses stratified by gender and including age, body mass index, and the waist-hip ratio as covariates, there were significant differences between those with normal and abnormal glucose intolerance in blood pressure, triglyceride, and HDL-cholesterol, but not total or LDL-cholesterol. In both male and female subjects, height had a significant independent negative association with the plasma glucose at 120 min after administration of oral glucose (standardized beta coefficient = -0.12, p < 0.01).