Secular trends of fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes and diabetes secondary to alcoholic chronic pancreatitis at a tertiary care diabetes centre in South India.

CONTEXT

Data on prevalence and trends in diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis in developing countries is scarce.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the secular trends in the prevalence of fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (FCPD) and diabetes secondary to alcoholic chronic pancreatitis (ACP) at a diabetes centre in south India.

DESIGN

A retrospective analysis was done of all patients registered at Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialties Centre, Chennai, India between January 1991 and December 2010.

PATIENTS

A total of 1,079 subjects with diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis were identified, of whom 47 were excluded because of difficulty in classification.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The number of patients with FCPD and diabetes secondary to ACP were calculated as a percentage of the total number of diabetes patients seen at the centre during five year blocks.

RESULTS

Of the total of 1,032 cases of diabetes secondary to chronic pancreatitis, FCPD comprised 898 (87%) and ACP 134 (13%). The prevalence of FCPD decreased from 1.6% during 1991-1995 to 0.2% during 2006-2010 (P<0.001). The prevalence of ACP remained constant at 0.1%. The age at diagnosis of FCPD increased (P=0.002) while that of ACP decreased (P=0.025) during the study period. There was a significant increase in BMI of FCPD P<0.001), but not of ACP (P=0.248) patients.

CONCLUSIONS

At this centre, FCPD continues to be more common than ACP, but there is a decline in its frequency. The age at diagnosis of FCPD has increased, while that of ACP has decreased. The decline in FCPD probably reflects improved nutrition.