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Temporal changes in mean HbA1c in a general population: comparisons between 1997 and 2002, the Japan National Diabetes Surveys

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Abstract

Aims

This study examines the change in mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) from 1997 to 2002 and evaluates factors associated with HbA1c, by analyzing two points cross-sectional data from the Japan National Diabetes Surveys.

Methods

The study included 2,095 men and 3,340 women in 1997, and 1,960 men and 3,115 women in 2002 without a previous history of diabetes. Differences between the two surveys were compared. A multivariable linear regression model was used to identify factors related to HbA1c.

Results

The mean HbA1c was 0.15 % higher in 2002 than 1997 in men (5.29 to 5.44 %, P < 0.001) and 0.14 % higher in women without a previous history of diabetes (5.33 to 5.47 %, P < 0.001). In men, mean BMI increased (23.1 to 23.7 kg/m2, P < 0.001), SBP decreased (137 to 133 mmHg, P = 0.006), and the proportion of current smokers (53 to 45 %, P < 0.001) and current drinkers decreased (52 to 48 %, P = 0.047). In women, mean BMI showed no change and SBP decreased (131 to 127 mmHg, P = 0.020). Age, BMI, current non-drinker, and the time trend (5 years from 1997 to 2002) were associated with HbA1c in both sexes and current smoking and daily footsteps were associated with HbA1c only in men.

Conclusions

The mean HbA1c increased by 0.14–0.15 % in both sexes from 1997 to 2002 among Japanese people without a previous history of diabetes. The increase in HbA1c from 1997 to 2002 could partly be related to the increase of BMI in men. Such temporal changes of HbA1c should be further investigated in the national data to search for contributing factors to promote health care related to diabetes in Japan.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the Research Group “Construction of Health and Nutrition Monitoring Systems for promoting and evaluating health promotion measures.”

Conflict of interest

Yayoi Yamamoto, Tomoko Nakagami, Tetsuji Yokoyama, Yasuko Uchigata, and Nobuo Yoshiike declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes Center, Tokyo Women’s Medical University School of Medicine, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, 162-8666, Tokyo, Japan

    Yayoi Yamamoto, Tomoko Nakagami & Yasuko Uchigata

  2. Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Saitama, Japan

    Tetsuji Yokoyama

  3. Department of Health Science, Aomori University of Health and Welfare, Aomori, Japan

    Nobuo Yoshiike

Authors
  1. Yayoi Yamamoto
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  2. Tomoko Nakagami
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  3. Tetsuji Yokoyama
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  4. Yasuko Uchigata
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  5. Nobuo Yoshiike
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomoko Nakagami.

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Yamamoto, Y., Nakagami, T., Yokoyama, T. et al. Temporal changes in mean HbA1c in a general population: comparisons between 1997 and 2002, the Japan National Diabetes Surveys. Diabetol Int 6, 83–90 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13340-014-0178-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13340-014-0178-7

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