Prevalence of prediabetes and associated risk factors in a rural Nigerian community

There is very scanty population-based data on the prevalence of prediabetes, a forerunner to type 2 diabetes, in both rural and urban Nigeria. The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for prediabetes in a rural Nigerian population. A cross-sectional, village by village, clan-based stratified convenient sampling was done in Ihuokpara, a rural community in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. A total of 824 adult men and women participated. Questionnaires were used to obtain sociodemographic data, awareness of diabetes, and common symptoms including family history of diabetes. Fasting plasma glucose and 2-hour post 75g-glucose-load plasma glucose levels were measured after the subjects’ blood pressure and anthropometric indices were obtained. Fasting lipid profile was also assessed in a subset of the study population. Males constituted 34.7 % of the 824 participants. The mean age of the subjects was 51.1 ± 16.2 years. Prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was 9.2 %, while that of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was 15.8 %. The overall prevalence of prediabetes (both IGT and IFG) was 21.5 %. Hypertension was prevalent at 45.3 % and was the strongest predictor of prediabetes. Obesity was prevalent at 5.8 % and overweight at 16.7 %, while 15.7 % had central obesity. Prevalence of prediabetes was high in the community with hypertension emerging as the possible driving force.