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Diagnostic criteria for diabetes in China: are we pushing too much beyond evidence?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 812–815 (2017)Cite this article

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The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to increase worldwide, and its consequent morbidity and mortality cause a huge burden to patients and health care. China is undergoing a soaring DM epidemic and the situation is especially acute. DM prevalence was 0.9, 1.0, 2.5, 5.5, 9.7 and 11.6%, respectively, in 1980, 1986, 1994, 2001, 2008 and 2010 (Table 1), showing a 10-fold increase in 20 years.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 It is estimated there were some 114 million DM patients in 2010 in China and the prevalence of pre-DM also shockingly reached 50.1%; making half of the Chinese adults at risk for this condition.10

Table 1 Prevalence of diabetes in China in different surveys between 1980 and 2011
Full size table

However, behind the massive epidemic, it is seldom noted that the increase in the estimates of DM prevalence over the 20 years is probably, in a large proportion, a result of changes in diagnosis criteria used in the surveys.12 In fact, DM diagnosis criteria have been changing worldwide mainly by using and/or including new glycemic measures.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by grants from China Medical Board (CMB) Collaborating Program (15-216), a grant from Cyrus Tang Foundation (419600-11102), and a grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81273171).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    X Ma & S Zhu

  2. Chronic Disease Research Institute, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    X Ma & S Zhu

  3. Division of Epidemiology, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Y-L Zhang & J-L Tang

  4. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism Disease, Xijing Hospital, Forth Military Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

    Q Ji & Y Xing

  5. Department of Endocrinology, Key Lab of Endocrinology, Ministry of Health, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academe of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    H Pan & S Chen

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Ma, X., Zhang, YL., Ji, Q. et al. Diagnostic criteria for diabetes in China: are we pushing too much beyond evidence?. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 812–815 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.51

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