Detecting Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in South Eastern Nigeria: The Role of Adiposity Indices in Relation to Gender

Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the predicting powers of different adiposity indices
on incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among adult men and women in Uyo Metropolis, Nigeria.
Methodology: Three thousand five hundred adult civil servants (1532 men and 1968 women), aged
18 - 60 years, were assessed for incident T2DM using 2011 Expert Committee Revised criteria for the
diagnosis of T2DM.
Results: Incident T2DM was found in 180 (5.4%) participants, 73 men (4.8%) and 116 women
(5.9%). Results of comparison between diabetic men and women showed that body mass index (BMI)
and mid arm circumference (MAC) did not differ significantly between groups. Waist circumference
(WC) and waist-hip ratios (WHR) of women with T2DM were significantly higher than those of men
with T2DM (WC: P =0.001 and WHR: P=0.034). BMI and MAC had equal predicting powers in both
genders with odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) as follows: BMI (OR=2.41, C.I=1.728
- 7.01 for men and 2.02, 1.51 - 6.402 for women); MAC (OR =1.624, C.I=1.824 - 7.051 for men and
1.51, 1.62 - 6.59 for women); WHR and WC were predictive of T2DM only in women. OR and C.I
were as follows: - WHR (OR=2.435, 0.951- 6.413 for women and 0.729, 0.547 - 1.14 for men); WC:
(2.834, 1.270 - 5.421 for women and 1.21, 0.695 -1.845 for men) respectively.
Conclusion: All adiposity indices measured were significantly associated with incident T2DM in
women, with only BMI and MAC showing significant association with T2DM in men.