Pakistan National Diabetes Survey: prevalence of glucose intolerance and associated factors in the Punjab Province of Pakistan.

Aims: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and their relationship to age and obesity were estimated in Punjab, Pakistan by a population-based survey done in 1998.
Methods: Oral glucose tolerance tests were performed in a stratified random sample of 1852 adults aged >or=25 years. The diagnosis of diabetes and IGT were made on the basis of WHO criteria.
Results: The prevalence of diabetes was 12.14% in males and 9.83% in females. Overall total glucose intolerance (diabetes and IGT) was present in 16.68% males and 19.37% females. Central obesity, hypertension and positive family history were strongly associated with diabetes.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the prevalence of glucose intolerance is high in the studied population and comparable with the published data from the other three provinces of Pakistan i.e. Sindh, Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province, studied by the same group.