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The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among the elderly of seven cities in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Health Wellbeing and Aging (SABE) Project.

Barceló A, Peláez M, Rodriguez-Wong L, Pastor-Valero M

Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd St. NW, Washington, DC 20037-2895, USA. barceloa@paho.org.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation of diagnosed diabetes mellitus (DM) to the level of education and body mass index (BMI) among the elderly of seven cities using data from SABE. METHODS: The SABE survey was based on a probabilistic sample of the elderly population. RESULTS: Results: The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among the elderly was 15.7% (95% CI 14.7-16.8), with the highest prevalence reported in Bridgetown and the lowest in Buenos Aires. DISCUSSION: There was a high prevalence of diagnosed DM among the elderly of the seven cities. The prevalence of diagnosed DM was strongly associated with BMI and low education. The inclusion of these factors in policies and programs aiming to reduce the prevalence of diabetes among the elderly is recommended.

Published 14 April 2006 in J Aging Health, 18(2): 224-39.
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