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OBJECTIVE—To report the age- and sex-specific prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose regulation (IGR) according to revised World Health Organization criteria for diabetes in Asian populations. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We performed 11 studies of 4 countries, comprising 24,335 subjects (10,851 men and 13,484 women) aged 30–89 years who attended the 2-h oral glucose tolerance test and met the inclusion criteria for data analysis. RESULTS—The prevalence of diabetes increased with age and reached the peak at 70–89 years of age in Chinese and Japanese subjects but peaked at 60–69 years of age followed by a decline at the 70 years of age in Indian subjects. At 30–79 years of age, the 10-year age-specific prevalence of diabetes was higher in Indian than in Chinese and Japanese subjects. Indian subjects also had a higher prevalence of IGR in the younger age-groups (30–49 years) compared with that for Chinese and Japanese subjects. Impaired glucose tolerance was more prevalent than impaired fasting glycemia in all Asian populations studied for all age-groups. CONCLUSIONS—Indians had the highest prevalence of diabetes among Asian countries. The age at which the peak prevalence of diabetes was reached was ∼10 years younger in Indian compared with Chinese and Japanese subjects. Diabetes and IGR will be underestimated in Asians based on the fasting glucose testing alone.

Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is a disease with poorly understood natural history and severe long-term complications, and it is associated with large human and economic burden and costs. Epidemiologic data from various parts of the world suggest that NIDDM is increasing in most populations and in some of them it has already reached epidemic proportions (1). Diabetes seriously affects the quality of life because of its complications and the life of diabetic patients is clearly shortened. These facts make the question of preventing NIDDM important.