1994 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 25-29
A case-control study was conducted to evaluate the relation between several factors and the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in a rural population of the island of Ojika, in the Goto islands, Nagasaki prefecture Japan. We selected 62 diabetes mellitus (DM) and 70 impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) cases and 168 normal controls for the study. They were diagnosed by WHO criteria using 75 gram glucose tolerance test applied to inhabitants of the island in June 1991. Obesity, expressed as body mass index (BMI, weight (kg)/height (cm)') at the time of diagnosis and BMI at the time when they had heaviest weight, was associated with increased risk for DM (odds ratio for one unit difference (OR)=1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.04-1.27 and OR=1.13, 95% 01=1.02-1.25, respectively). Occupational experience of rice growing, vegetable growing and breeding of cattle were inversely associated with the risk (OR=0.36 ; CI=0.17-0.76, OR=0.44 ; CI=0.21-0.93, OR=0.43 ; CI=0.21-0.93, respectively). The DM history of father was associated with the significantly high risk (OR=10.94 ; CI=1.18-101.14), but that of mother did not (OR=1.49 ; CI=0.13-17.17). The sample size of this study was not large enough to get the narrow odds ratio confidence intervals. To increase the reliability of the relative risk estimation, further intensive studies are necessary. J Epidemiol, 1994; 4 : 25-29.
