Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in an ethnic minority population: clinical presentation and comparison to other populations.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the clinical presentation of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes of ethnic minority adults in Chicago and compare with other populations.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study examining the data of 2280 patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes treated between 2003 and 2013 in a large Chicago public healthcare system.

RESULTS

Mean age of the patients was 49±11.3 years, men 54.4%, African-Americans 48.1%, Hispanics 32.5%, unemployed 69.9%, uninsured 82.2%, English-speaking 75.1%, and body mass index was 32.8±7.4 kg/m. Microvascular complications were present in 50.1% and macrovascular complications in 13.4%. There was a presence of either macrovascular or microvascular complications correlated with older age, hypertension, dyslipidemia, inactivity, speaking English, and being insured (p<0.01). Glycosylated hemoglobin A (HbA) at presentation did not correlate with diabetes complications. In our cohort, when compared with a diverse population in the UK and insured population in the USA, HbA at presentation was 10.0% (86 mmol/mol), 6.6% (49 mmol/mol), and 8.2% (66 mmol/mol); nephropathy was 22.2%, 16.7%, and 5.7%; retinopathy was 10.7%, 7.9%, and 1.4%; and neuropathy was 27.7%, and 6.7% in the UK (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between groups in the prevalence of macrovascular complications.

CONCLUSION

These results show the vulnerability of underserved and underinsured patients for developing diabetes complications possibly related to a delayed diagnosis.