ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: There is little information available about the prevalence of chronic metabolic diseases in many Latin American countries. Between 1995 and 1998, studies on the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes were carried out in four cities located in central Argentina: Dean Funes, Oncativo, Pehuajo and Venado Tuerto. The data provided by these surveys are reanalysed here in order to determine prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and diabetes using new epidemiological criteria. METHODS: Representative samples of the population, based on a multistage probabilistic sampling design, were taken from each of the four cities. The sample size was calculated to obtain a precision of 4% for the prevalence assessment. The subjects included were aged 20 years and over. Standardization of the prevalence rates used the entire study sample as the reference population. RESULTS: Age-standardised prevalence rates for the cities ranged between 22.4% and 30.8% for obesity, 27.9% and 43.6% for hypertension, 24.2% and 36.4% for hyperlipidemia, and 6.5% and 7.7% for diabetes mellitus. All these prevalences increased with age. 58.1% of the obese subjects and 51.2% of the diabetic subjects had hypertension, while 43.2% of the obese subjects and 52.8% of the diabetic subjects had hyperlipidemia. CONCLUSIONS: While the prevalence of diabetes mellitus was between 6% and 8%, the prevalence of obesity was close to 26% and hypertension and hyperlipidemia affected one third of the population. These data can be considered as indicative of the prevalences of these four diseases in the population aged 20 years and over, in the central region of Argentina.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology , Hyperlipidemias/epidemiology , Hypertension/epidemiology , Obesity/epidemiology , Adult , Age Distribution , Aged , Argentina/epidemiology , Geography , Humans , Middle Aged , PrevalenceABSTRACT
An interview system was used to survey 56,199 students in Avellaneda between the ages of 3 and 20 years, representing 60.6% of the population of that age group in the census. The study covered 178 of the 201 pre-schools, grade schools, high schools and special schools in the area. Thirty three diabetic children were identified (18 girls, 15 boys), with a mean of 12.5 years of age. This represents a prevalence of diabetes in the school age population of 0.45/1000 in the 3-12 year old group, 1.25/1000 in the 13-20 year old group, with 0.59/1000 for the total of children surveyed. (93.82 of ascertainement, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.42/1000). Similar figures have resulted from studies in developed countries. The most frequent initial symptoms were the typical ones, with only 15% showing acidosis or diabetic coma as the initiation of the illness. Viral infections and stress appeared to be related to the onset of the disease. Diabetes was in the family history of 48.5% of the diabetic children, and 24.5% of the non-diabetics. The most common diabetic relative was the paternal grandfather. The maternal side showed a higher number of diabetic relatives with preponderance of males. No socio-economic differences were found between diabetics and non-diabetics.
Subject(s)
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/epidemiology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Argentina/epidemiology , Child , Child, Preschool , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/genetics , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/therapy , Female , Humans , Insulin/therapeutic use , Male , PrevalenceABSTRACT
An interview system was used to survey 56,199 students in Avellaneda between the ages of 3 and 20 years, representing 60.6
of the population of that age group in the census. The study covered 178 of the 201 pre-schools, grade schools, high schools and special schools in the area. Thirty three diabetic children were identified (18 girls, 15 boys), with a mean of 12.5 years of age. This represents a prevalence of diabetes in the school age population of 0.45/1000 in the 3-12 year old group, 1.25/1000 in the 13-20 year old group, with 0.59/1000 for the total of children surveyed. (93.82 of ascertainement, 95
CI 0.34 to 0.42/1000). Similar figures have resulted from studies in developed countries. The most frequent initial symptoms were the typical ones, with only 15
showing acidosis or diabetic coma as the initiation of the illness. Viral infections and stress appeared to be related to the onset of the disease. Diabetes was in the family history of 48.5
of the diabetic children, and 24.5
of the non-diabetics. The most common diabetic relative was the paternal grandfather. The maternal side showed a higher number of diabetic relatives with preponderance of males. No socio-economic differences were found between diabetics and non-diabetics.
