Prevalence of Undiagnosed Diabetes and Prediabetes according to Age and Obesity Status in Central Europe.

Introduction: Data on prevalence of prediabetes, a high-risk condition for developing diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes, are scarce for Central Europe and lacking for Austria. Hence, we report prevalence data for prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes in relation to age and BMI categories over a period of 7 years.

Methods: We conducted an analysis of two databases: the national health insurance health check-up data 2017-2023 and the cross-sectional AUSTRO-PROFIT cohort study in people undergoing health check-ups that collected more detailed clinical data and health-related quality of life. Prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes were diagnosed using fasting glucose values according to the American Diabetes Association criteria.

Results: We investigated 6,412,591 (3,556,116 females) entries of people without previously known diabetes undergoing health check-ups from 2017 to 2023 in Austria. The crude prevalence of prediabetes was 21.084% (95% CI: 21.048-21.119) and undiagnosed diabetes was 2.950% (95% CI: 2.936-2.963), with age-standardised prevalence of 19.709% (19.708-19.710) and 2.741% (2.740-2.742), respectively. Prevalence rates for both prediabetes and diabetes remained stable over the time period of 7 years. In the AUSTRO-PROFIT cohort (N = 620), the prevalence rates were comparable with health check-up data (26.6% for prediabetes and 3.4% for diabetes). Health-related quality of life was reduced in individuals with disturbed glucose metabolism.

Conclusion: Prediabetes affects approximately one-fifth of the adult population undergoing health check-ups in Austria, while in 3% undiagnosed diabetes was detected. Both conditions are associated with reduced health-related quality of life and higher rates of comorbidities.