Race, regionality and pre-diabetes in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study

To determine the association between race, region and pre-diabetes.

The study used 2003-2007 United States baseline data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study for this cross-sectional analysis. Participants in this study were 45years or older at recruitment. Logistic regression was used to assess whether race and region are associated with pre-diabetes independent of demographics, socioeconomic factors and risk factors.

Twenty-four percent of the study participants (n=19,889) had pre-diabetes. The odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for having pre-diabetes was 1.28 (1.19-1.36) for blacks relative to whites and 1.18 (1.10-1.26) for people living in the Stroke Belt region relative to the other parts of the United States. The odds of having pre-diabetes for Stroke Belt participants changed minimally after additional adjustment for race (OR=1.20; 1.13-1.28), age and sex (OR=1.24; 1.16-1.32), socioeconomic status (OR=1.22; 1.15-1.31) and risk factors (OR=1.26; 1.17-1.35). In the adjusted model, being black was independently associated with pre-diabetes (OR=1.19; 1.10-1.28).

The prevalence of pre-diabetes was higher for both blacks and whites living in the Stroke Belt relative to living outside the Stroke Belt, and the prevalence of pre-diabetes was higher for blacks independent of region.