Rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes in rural Bangladesh: a population based study

The aim of the study was to determine the temporal changes in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and its associated risk factors in a rural population of Bangladesh. A total of 4757 subjects age >/=20 years both male and female were enrolled randomly in a cross-sectional study in 1999. The same area and population was reinvestigated in 2004 following the same selection procedure, on a sample of 3981 individuals. Structural and economical changes were noted for the last 5 years in the locality. An increased prevalence of diabetes was found with 6.8% in the present survey compared with 2.3% in the earlier survey (p<0.05). Age, BMI and systolic blood pressure were found to be significant risk factors following both for FBG and for OGTT. WHR was found to be a significant risk factor for men only. A substantial agreement was observed between FBG and OGTT (kappa 0.63) compared to the previous investigation in 1999 (kappa 0.40). Differences in the indices of obesity, that is BMI, WHR and waist girth, may in part explain the increased prevalence, which in turn may explain due to fast-expanded urbanization. The state of affairs warrants immediate measures necessary to prevent the epidemic particularly in the localities that are in the transition phase from rural to semi-urban facilities.