Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and associated cardiovascular risk factors in an adult urban population in Paraguay

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a 20–74-year-old population in an urban white-Hispanic population in Paraguay to determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and associated cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. In total 1606 subjects completed the study (response rate 80.3%; 1094 women, 512 men). The overall prevalences were: DM 6.5 %, IGT 11.3 %, hypertension 17.1 %, and obesity 31.6% with more obesity in women (35.7 % vs 22.8 %, p < 0.05). Age-standardized prevalences were: DM 6.5 %, IGT 13.5 % in females and DM 5.5 %, IGT 7.2 % in males. DM and IGT subjects had two or more CV risk factors significantly more often than the normal population. In conclusion, DM, IGT, hypertension, and obesity are common in this South American Hispanic urban population, particularly in women. Public health measures, such as lifestyle education, are required to decrease these non-communicable diseases. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.