TUESDAY, February 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Prediabetes may not be a solid diagnostic criterion for predicting the progression of diabetes in older adults, according to a study published online Feb. 8 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Mary R. Rooney, Ph.D., MPH, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues used data from the Community Atherosclerosis Risk Study (Baseline, 2011-2013), around 3,412 older adults (mean age) to identify, 75.6 years) without diabetes with follow-up to 2017. Various prediabetes definitions were evaluated to characterize the risk of progression.
The researchers found that there were a total of 156 cases of diabetes and 434 deaths during the 6.5-year follow-up period. Forty-four percent of participants met prediabetes criteria with glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of 5.7 to 6.4 percent, while 59 percent met criteria for impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (fasting glucose levels of 100 to 125 mg / dL) . Overall, almost three quarters (73 percent) met the HbA1c or IFG criteria, while 29 percent met both the HbA1c and IFG criteria. Among the participants with HbA1c-defined prediabetes at baseline, 9 percent developed diabetes, 13 percent developed normoglycemia (HbA1c <5.7 percent), and 19 percent died. Of those with IFG-defined prediabetes at the start of the study, 8 percent developed into diabetes, 44 percent developed into normoglycemia (fasting glucose level <100 mg / dl) and 16 percent died. Of those with HbA1c levels <5.7 percent at the start of the study, 17 percent developed into HbA1c-defined prediabetes and 3 percent developed diabetes. Of those with fasting glucose levels <100 mg / dl at the start of the study, 8 percent developed IFG-defined prediabetes and 3 percent developed diabetes.
“In this community-based cohort study of older adults, the prevalence of prediabetes was high. However, regression to normoglycemia or death was more common than progression to diabetes during the study period,” the authors write. “These results suggest that prediabetes in old age may not be a robust diagnostic unit.”
Summary / full text (subscription or payment required)
Editorial (subscription or payment required)
