Need for state-specific policies to seize rapidly rising epidemic of metabolic non-communicable diseases: ICMR study

New Delhi [India], June 16 : There is a need for urgent state-specific policies and interventions to arrest the rapidly rising epidemic of metabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India, according to a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB).

According to the study published in The Lancet, the prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India is considerably higher than previously estimated.

The ICMR study is based on a cross-sectional population-based survey which assesses a representative sample of individuals aged 20 years and older drawn from urban and rural areas of 31 states, union territories, and the National Capital Territory of India.

As per the study's findings, while the diabetes epidemic is stabilizing in the more developed states of the country, it is still increasing in most other states.

The study was conducted in multiple phases with a stratified multistage sampling design, using three-level stratification based on geography, population size, and socioeconomic status of each state.

Diabetes and prediabetes were diagnosed using the WHO criteria, hypertension using the Eighth Joint National Committee guidelines, obesity (generalised and abdominal) using the WHO Asia Pacific guidelines, and dyslipidaemia using the National Cholesterol Education ProgramAdult Treatment Panel III guidelines.

A total of 1,13,043 individuals (79 506 from rural areas and 33 537 from urban areas) participated in the ICMR-INDIAB study between Oct 18, 2008 and Dec 17, 2020.

The overall weighted prevalence of diabetes was 11*4 per cent (95 per cent CI 10*2-12*5; 10 151 of 107 119 individuals), prediabetes 15*3 per cent (13*9-16*6; 15 496 of 107 119 individuals), hypertension 35*5 per cent (33*8-37*3; 35 172 of 111 439 individuals), generalised obesity 28*6 per cent (26*9-30*3; 29 861 of 110 368 individuals), abdominal obesity 39*5 per cent (37*7-41*4; 40 121 of 108 665 individuals), and dyslipidaemia 81*2 per cent (77*9-84*5; 14 895 of 18 492 of 25 647).

The study published in the Lancet revealed that all metabolic NCDs except prediabetes were more frequent in urban than rural areas. In many states with a lower human development index, the ratio of diabetes to prediabetes was less than 1.

Non-communicable disease (NCD) rates are rapidly increasing in India with wide regional variations. The study aimed to quantify the prevalence of metabolic NCDs in India and analyse interstate and inter-regional variations.

The study was funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.