• V S Ajay, D Prabhakaran, P Jeemon, K R Thankappan, V Mohan, L Ramakrishnan, P Joshi, F U Ahmed, B V M Mohan, V Chaturvedi, R Mukherjee, and K S Reddy.
• Centre for Chronic Disease Control, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Dehli, India.
• Diabet. Med. 2008 Oct 1; 25 (10): 1187-94.

AimTo highlight the regional difference in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and to explore determinants in variability in the Indian industrial population.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out among the employees and their family members (10 930 individuals, mean age 39.6 years, 6764 male) of eleven medium-to-large industries from diverse sites in India, using a stratified random sampling technique. Information on behavioural, clinical and biochemical risk factors of DM was obtained, through standardized instruments. DM was diagnosed when fasting blood glucose was > or = 7.0 mmol/l and/or individuals took drug treatment for DM. Multiple logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the potential predictors of DM.ResultIn the 20 to 69-year-old age group, the crude prevalence of DM and impaired fasting glucose was 10.1 and 5.3%, respectively. Urban sites had a higher prevalence and awareness of DM status. Individuals in the lower education group had a high prevalence of DM (11.6%). In diabetic subjects, 38.4% were unaware that they had diabetes. Waist-circumference-to-height ratio had a higher DM predictive power than waist circumference and body mass index. The risk factors associated with overall prevalence of DM were: age, sex, low-education level, family history of DM, hypertension and overweight/obesity. Interaction of risk factors was observed only in urban high-prevalence sites.ConclusionThere are wide regional variations in the prevalence of DM in India. The high burden of undetected diabetes, even in settings with universal access to on-site health care, highlights the need for innovative prevention and control strategies.

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