Asian patients more prone to type 2 diabetes 1 year after prediabetes diagnosis compared to white and Black patients: Study

One year after a prediabetes diagnosis, Asians were more likely to develop diabetes mellitus whereas Black patients were more likely to remain in prediabetes range, highlighting racial disparities in diabetes prevention, according to data presented at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

“Every year a small proportion of patients with prediabetes will progress to diabetes mellitus with some proportion of patients reverting to normal glucose levels,” said Ewelina Niedzialkowska, M.D., an internal medicine resident at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, in Royal Oak, Mich. “While diet, lifestyle and genetics play a large role in the progression of prediabetes to diabetes, a better understanding is needed of the role that age, gender and race play in this progression.”

The retrospective observational study included 12,509 people (57% female, 53% white, 28% Black, and 7% Asian) ages 18-65 with prediabetes, based on having two consecutive years of HbA1c between 5.7% and 6.5%. The researchers compared the demographic characteristics of individuals who progressed to type 2 diabetes or regressed to normoglycemia within one year.

“The findings revealed that 17.9% of patients returned to normal glucose levels, while 7.21% developed diabetes within the follow-up period,” Niedzialkowska said.