Endocrine Abstracts

Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus (DM) represents a substantial burden on health care systems, being the 8th leading cause of death and disability in the world in 2019, associated with long-term microvascular (neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy) and macrovascular (ischemic heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease) complications. DM comorbidities lead to a substantial decrease in quality of life, as well as important socio-economic consequences. In 2022, the health system in the Republic of Moldova (RM) had records of 131,550 people with DM. Data on the prevalence and incidence of DM and prediabetes are limited due to the lack of studies in this direction. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of diabetes, prediabetes and obesity in the adult population of RM.

Methods: This is the first cross-sectional, epidemiological study that analyzes the prevalence of DM, prediabetes, and dyslipidemia in the population of RM. The diagnosis of DM was established based on the diagnostic criteria of the American Diabetes Association: HbA1c ≥ 6.5%, fasting glucose (FG) ≥ 7 mmol/l, blood glucose 2h after the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) ≥ 11.1 mmol/l or the presence of diabetes history - reported by the patient. The diagnostic criteria for prediabetes were: HbA1c value between 5.7 and 6.4 %, FG – 5.6 – 6.9 mmol/l, blood glucose 2 hours after OGTT 7.8 – 11 mmol/l. Statistical analysis used Spearman’s correlation test, chi-square, and Wilcoxon tests.

Results: A total of 1039 persons were enrolled (66.4% women and 33.6% men, with an average age of 49±13 years). 10,8 % of the investigated persons were with diabetes mellitus, 1.9 % of whom had unknown DM. 51 % of persons with DM were men; 71 % of whom – with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²; 93 % - with abdominal obesity. 69 % of women with DM were with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m² and 94 % - with abdominal obesity. Prediabetes was diagnosed in 29.6% of the investigated persons, with a prevalence of 48 % in men vs 52 % in women. Advanced age, obesity, and dyslipidemia were the diabetes influencing factors.

Conclusion: The study showed an increased prevalence of carbohydrate metabolism disorders, including prediabetes, as well as a high prevalence of abdominal obesity. Persons with unknown diabetes mellitus have been identified.