Diabetes prevalence, awareness and treatment and their correlates in older persons in urban and rural population in the Astana region, Kazakhstan

- There is very little reliable information on the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of diabetes in Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.
- This study found that a high overall prevalence of diabetes (12.5%); the prevalence was twice higher in the urban sample than in the rural area (16.3% vs. 8.6%).
- Awareness, treatment and control of diabetes were also approximately twice higher in the urban vs. rural area.
- The large urban-rural differences suggest a role of urbanized life style and access to health care.

AimsThe evidence on the prevalence and distribution of diabetes and its determinants in Central Asia is sparse. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of diabetes and factors associated with these characteristics in the population of Astana (capital) city and adjacent rural area in Kazakhstan.MethodsParticipants aged 50-75 years old, residing in Astana city (the capital) and Akmol village were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study. The subjects were randomly selected from polyclinic registers. A total of 953 adults were interviewed (response rate 59%), and their fasting plasma glucose, blood pressure, height and weight were measured. Diabetes was defined as fasting plasma glucose (FPG) ≥7.0 mmol/l (126 mg/dl) and/or being on diabetes medication.ResultsThe overall prevalence of diabetes was 12.5%, and it was almost twice higher in the urban residents (16.3%) than in the rural population (8.6%). Diabetes prevalence was associated with age, men sex, hypertension, obesity, and Russian ethnicity. Among subjects with diabetes, 72.3% were aware of their condition; 65.6% were on treatment and 27.7% had controlled fasting plasma glucose. The awareness, treatment and control of diabetes were substantially higher in the urban population and among women.ConclusionsThe large differences in all diabetes indices between urban and rural regions, if confirmed in larger studies, may suggest an impact of westernised and urbanised lifestyle as well as access to health care.