Findings about adult diabetes by Xi'an Jiaotong University Global Health Institute (GHI) were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, on Dec 28.

The study, titled Prevalence and treatment of diabetes in China, 2013-2018, was initiated by XJTU and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Professor Wang Youfa, dean of the GHI, is the corresponding author.

Researchers systematically analyzed prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control data, as well as the variation tendency of related risk factors of diabetes among adults in China, based on 343,929 samples collected nationwide in two rounds from 2013 to 2014 and 2018 to 2019.

The study showed that the prevalence of diabetes among adults in China increased from 10.9 percent in 2013 to 12.4 percent in 2018, while the awareness rate of diabetes in 2018 was 36.7 percent, the treatment rate was 32.9 percent, and the control rate was 50.1 percent, which were all at low levels.

From 2013 to 2018, preventable and controllable risk factors in the populationwere not effectively controlled. Risk factors such as poor diet, insufficient physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption among Chinese adults generally increased.

According to the body mass index (BMI) standard for judging obesity in China, the prevalence of obesity increased from 14.1 percent to 16.5 percent in five years. Obesity is an important risk factor for diabetes.

The occurrence and development of chronic diseases are affected by factors such as aging, urbanization, social pressure, lifestyle, environmental factors, health literacy and the quality of health management.

This study suggests that China needs to further improve and strengthen government leadership, conduct multi-departmental coordination and enhance society's participation in the prevention and control of chronic diseases.

In particular, the management of chronic diseases in rural health service institutions is at the primary level, and the country should strengthen precise prevention and control measures for special groups such as men and the elderly, so as to improve the treatment and control rates of adult diabetes.