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Study: Nearly One-third of Adults With Pre-diabetes Also Have Arthritis
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WASHINGTON — Between 2009 and 2014, nearly one-third of adults in the United States with pre-diabetes also had arthritis, according to an analysis presented at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting.
“This may impact physical activity recommended to prevent diabetes because of arthritis-specific barriers,” Kamil E. Barbour, PhD, in the Arthritis Program at the CDC, said during his presentation.
To determine the prevalence of arthritis among patients with pre-diabetes, Barbour and colleagues used the 2009 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which provides an estimate of the non-institutionalized U.S. population. The researchers limited their analysis to adults who were at least 20 years old and who had a fasting plasma glucose (fpg) measurement. Unweighted sample sizes were 2,787 in 2009 and 2010; 2,471 in 2011 and 2012; and 2,574 in 2013 and 2014. Researchers defined pre-diabetes as a glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level between 5.7% and 6.5% or an fpg level between 100 mg/dL and 125 mg/dL. They defined diabetes as an HbA1c level of at least 6.5% or fpg level of at least 126 mg/dL or a response to the questionnaire indicating participants were diagnosed with diabetes or sugar diabetes by a health care professional. They also defined arthritis as a response to the questionnaire indicating participants were diagnosed with arthritis by a health care professional. Researchers standardized estimates to the projected 2000 U.S. population and evaluated pairwise comparisons.
Between 2009 and 2014, 30% of adults with pre-diabetes also had arthritis, for a total of 27.9 million. The age-standardized prevalence of arthritis among adults with pre-diabetes (25.5%) was significantly higher than those without pre-diabetes (21.6%) and similar to those with diabetes (28.6%). Among adults with pre-diabetes, investigators found the highest age-standardized prevalence of arthritis for participants aged at least 65 years, who are women or who had less than a college degree.
“Health care and public health professionals can address these barriers to physical activity through evidence-based interventions that have been shown to reduce joint pain and increase physical activity,” Barbour said. “Some interventions that we promote at the CDC may increase physical activity while hopefully reducing the progression to diabetes.” – by Will Offit
Reference:
Barbour KE, et al. Abstract #3049. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting; Nov. 11-16, 2016; Washington.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.