Prevalence of diabetic and atherosclerotic complications among Mohawk Indians of Kahnawake, PQ.

We surveyed adults with diabetes mellitus and adults without diabetes living in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, PQ, for clinical characteristics related to vascular disease. People with diabetes were selected from a clinical register; nondiabetic subjects were randomly selected from a community register, with matching for age and sex. The response rates among the two groups were 62% and 39% respectively; groups of 82 and 94 people were obtained. Data were collected by chart review, interview and body measurement. The prevalence rate of ischemic heart disease was 48% for the subjects with diabetes and 22% for those without diabetes. The adjusted odds ratio for development of ischemic heart disease in a person with diabetes was 3.56, for development of cerebrovascular disease 4.57 and for development of peripheral vascular disease 5.51. Logistic regression for macrovascular disease showed that age, sex, smoking, hypertension and obesity could not explain the high rates of complications in the subjects with diabetes. The prevalence rates of ischemic heart disease in adults with and without diabetes are the highest reported in a North American Indian population.