Data from a survey of over 98,000 Chinese adults indicate that the prevalence of diabetes affects approximately 50% of the Chinese population, and only 25.8% of diagnosed patients are being treated.

“These data suggest that diabetes may have reached an alert level in the Chinese general population with the potential for a major epidemic of diabetes-related complications, including cardiovascular disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease in China in the near future without an effective national intervention,” the researchers wrote.

Researchers from the 2010 China Noncommunicable Disease Surveillance Group collected data from 162 study sites in the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Disease Surveillance Point System. According to researchers, measurements of HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour plasma glucose were collected from a nationally representative sample of 98,658 adults aged 18 years or older in 2010.

They found that the overall prevalence of diabetes was about 11.6% (95% CI, 11.3% to 11.8%) among the adult Chinese population (12.1% in men vs. 11% in women).

Further data indicate the prevalence of previously diagnosed diabetes was estimated to be 3.5% (95% CI, 3.4% to 3.6%) in the Chinese population (3.6% in men vs. 3.4% in women). Undiagnosed diabetes was estimated at 8.1% (95% CI, 7.9% to 8.3%) in the overall population (8.5% in men vs. 7.7% in women), according to data.

Moreover, the prevalence of prediabetes was estimated to be 50.1% (95% CI, 49.7% to 50.6%) in Chinese adults (52.1% in men vs. 48.1% in women).

The prevalence for prediabetes was greater among patients in older age groups (P<.001), urban residents, patients living in economically-developed regions and those who were overweight or obese, researchers wrote.

Data also demonstrate only 25.8% of patients with diabetes received treatment. Of those treated, only 39.7% had HbA1c levels less than 7% (40.7% in men vs. 38.6% in women), researchers wrote.

In an accompanying editorial, Juliana C. N. Chan, MD, FRCP, from the department of medicine and therapeutics at the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Prince of Wales Hospital International Diabetes Federation Centre of Education, Shatin, Hong Kong, SAR, China, wrote that diabetes is a societal and health care challenge.

“To this end, government leaderships, partnerships, and community empowerment will be needed to create a health-promoting environment, encourage self-management, and strengthen the health care system to make health a reality,” Chan wrote.

Source: Endocrine Today.