Prevalence of patients treated with anti-diabetic medicine in Greenland and Denmark. A cross-sectional register study

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Meklenborg, Ida, Pedersen, Michael Lynge, Bonefeld-Jørgensen, Eva Cecilie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Denmark; diabetes mellitus; Greenland; inuit; prevalence; Circumpolar Health; greenlandic; International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/prevalence-of-patients-treated-with-antidiabetic-medicine-in-greenland-and-denmark-a-crosssectional-register-study(89541d7e-53b4-4c1e-b03e-9818aa098e84).html; https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2018.1542930

Diabetes mellitus is a large and growing worldwide health issue. Prior to this publication, a direct comparison of the prevalence of persons treated with anti-diabetic medicine in Greenland and Denmark has not been found. Therefore, the aim of this study is to estimate and compare the age- and gender-specific prevalence of patients treated with anti-diabetic medicine comparing Greenland and Denmark. The study was performed as a cross-sectional register study using data from population and medical registers in Greenland and Denmark. A total of 784 Greenlandic and 215,580 Danish patients treated with anti-diabetic medicine were included. The prevalence of patients aged 20-79 years treated with anti-diabetic medicine in Greenland was 2.6% (95% CI 2.4-2.8), much lower (p < 0.001) compared to Denmark with 5.2% (95% CI 5.2-5.2). The difference was less pronounced after excluding those treated with insulin and women below 45 years treated with metformin. In conclusion, this study showed a lower prevalence of patients treated with anti-diabetic medicine in Greenland than Denmark. The main reason may be a much higher prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes in Greenland, particularly among the middle-aged. Differences in awareness of diabetes and access to continued primary healthcare may be contributing factors.