Original Research
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus among Sami and non-Sami inhabitants of Northern Norway – the SAMINOR 1 Survey (2003–2004) and the SAMINOR 2 Clinical Survey (2012–2014)
AUTHORS
Ali Naseribafrouei1 MD, PhD student in epidemiology., PhD student *
Bent-Martin Eliassen2 PhD, Postdoctoral fellow, Postdoctoral fellow
Marita Melhus3 Master of Science, senior engineer, Master of Science, senior engineer
Johan Svartberg4 MD, PhD, Head of division and professor
Ann Ragnhild Broderstad5 MD, PhD, MD, PhD, Academic director
AFFILIATIONS
1, 2, 3 Centre for Sami Health Research, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway
4 Division of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromso, Norway; and Tromso Endocrine Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway
5 Centre for Sami Health Research, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway; and Department of Medicine, University Hospital of Northern Norway, Harstad, Norway
ACCEPTED: 16 October 2018
early abstract:
Introduction:This study aimed to compare the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) between Sami and non-Sami inhabitants of Northern Norway participating in the SAMINOR 1 Survey and the SAMINOR 2 Clinical Survey, and to track DM prevalence over time.
Methods:SAMINOR 1 (2003–2004) and SAMINOR 2 (2012–2014) are cross-sectional, population-based studies that each recruited Sami and non-Sami inhabitants. The data used in this paper were restricted to participants aged 40–79 years in 10 municipalities in NorthernNorway. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires and underwent clinical examination and blood sampling. Both questionnaire information and non-fasting/random plasma glucose levels were used to ascertain DM. The study included 6288 and 5765 participants with complete data on DM and outcomes, i.e., 54.6% and 46.3% of the invited samples, respectively.
Results:No difference in the prevalence of DM between Sami and non-Sami participants was observed, in either survey. Women had a statistically significantly lower DM prevalence than men in SAMINOR 2. Mean waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference increased substantially in both sexes; mean body mass index increased only slightly in men and remained unchanged in women. The total, age-standardized DM prevalence in SAMINOR 1 and 2 was 10.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.2–10.7) and 11.2% (95% CI: 10.4–12.0), respectively, and the proportion of self-reported (i.e., known) DM increased from 49.2% to 73.0%. In almost the same time span (2004–2015), the use of oral glucose-lowering agents increased.
Conclusion:Overall, no ethnic difference was observed in DM prevalence. Overall DM prevalence was high, but did not change significantly from SAMINOR 1 to SAMINOR 2. The percentage of known versus unknown cases of DM increased, as did the prescription of medication for DM between 2004 and 2015.