Racial variation in diabetes mellitus in Japanese and Caucasians living in Hawaii.

Comparisons were made between diabetic and control groups in Japanese and Caucasians living in Honolulu, Hawaii. The study was performed on the multiphasic screening records of 109 diagnosed diabetics and 173 healthy controls in Japanese, and 69 diagnosed diabetics and 326 healthy controls in Caucasians. Discriminant function analysis was employed with relevant anthropometric, medical, and biochemical variables. The common set of significant discriminant variables were: diabetic sib, a history of high blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, urine sugar, glucose over 190 mg%, and serum glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, with age and sex effects fitted. The data suggested that heterogeneity exists between the two racial groups in the relationships of some of these variables with the disease.