Mixed
Adults residing in low-income countries (LICs) exhibit significantly higher diabetes prevalence (12.3-14.0%) compared to those in high-income countries (6.6-5.6%), a disparity that persists even after adjusting for conventional risk factors such as BMI, physical activity, and diet.
This research highlights that diabetes risk is not uniform globally. Living in a low-income country is associated with a significantly higher risk of diabetes, independent of standard risk factors like weight or exercise. This suggests that environmental, genetic, or early-life factors in these regions play a critical role, and standard risk assessments based on high-income country norms may underestimate risk in low-income settings.
Age- and sex-adjusted diabetes prevalences were highest in the poorer countries and lowest in the wealthiest countries (LIC 12.3%, UMIC 11.1%, LMIC 8.7%, and HIC 6.6%; P < 0.0001)... After adjustment for all risk factors and ethnicity, diabetes prevalences continued to show a gradient (LIC 14.0%, LMIC 10.1%, UMIC 10.9%, and HIC 5.6%).
Why this rating
Large sample size (n=119,666), multi-country, prospective design, but cross-sectional prevalence data limits causal inference.
Source
Variations in Diabetes Prevalence in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: Results From the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study
Gilles R. Dagenais et al. · Diabetes Care · 2016
DOI 10.2337/dc15-2338
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