Table 1

Characteristics of adults aged 45–79 years with type 2 diabetes in German national health interview and examination surveys 1997–1999 (GNHIES98) and 2008–2011 (DEGS1)

	GNHIES98 (1997–1999) (N=333)			DEGS1 (2008–2011) (N=526)			p Value
	n	Per cent *	95% CI*	n	Per cent*	95% CI*	p Value
Categorical variables (in %)
Sex
Men	160	48.7	42.8 to 54.6	298	53.1	47.3 to 58.8	0.221
Women	173	51.3	45.4 to 57.2	228	46.9	41.2 to 52.7
Age group, years
45–64	171	43.2	36.8 to 49.8	184	37.6	32.1 to 43.4	0.229
65–79	162	56.8	50.2 to 63.2	342	62.4	56.6 to 67.9
Municipality size
Rural town	84	19.3	12.3 to 28.9	111	18.1	11.8 to 26.8	0.628
Small city	75	20.8	13.1 to 31.3	128	26.1	18.6 to 35.2
Medium-sized city	89	32.4	22.6 to 43.9	150	30.0	22.2 to 39.3
Large city	85	27.6	18.7 to 38.6	137	25.8	18.4 to 34.8
Region†
North-west	27	11.6	6.4 to 20.0	62	15.4	9.7 to 23.5	0.090
Central west	81	30.2	20.9 to 41.4	161	37.9	29.0 to 47.7
North-east	57	14.5	7.8 to 25.2	73	10.3	6.3 to 16.3
Central east	99	15.3	9.9 to 22.9	133	14.4	9.4 to 21.4
South	69	28.5	19.1 to 40.3	97	22.1	15.1 to 31.1
Educational level‡
Primary	234	78.6	72.3 to 83.8	280	62.3	56.4 to 67.8	<0.001
Middle	58	14.1	10.4 to 18.7	162	28.2	23.3 to 33.7
High	25	7.3	4.1 to 12.6	81	9.5	7.0 to 12.8
Body mass index, kg/m²
<25	44	12.9	9.1 to 18.0	55	11.7	9.0 to 14.9	0.001
25–29.99	149	48.3	42.6 to 54.0	184	41.1	36.9 to 45.4
30–34.99	93	25.9	20.4 to 32.2	176	30.0	26.0 to 34.4
≥35	42	12.9	9.4 to 17.4	107	17.2	14.6 to 20.2
Smoking status
Smoker	60	19.5	14.5 to 25.8	85	18.2	14.3 to 22.9	0.033
Ex-smoker	89	27.5	22.2 to 33.6	220	38.0	33.1 to 43.2
Non-smoker	170	52.9	46.3 to 59.5	217	43.8	38.4 to 49.3
Sports activity, hours/week
0 (no sports)	231	76.1	69.0 to 82.0	231	47.7	42.0 to 53.5	<0.001
0–2	66	17.3	12.0 to 24.4	171	34.3	29.4 to 39.5
≥2	20	6.6	4.0 to 10.7	91	18.0	13.9 to 23.1
Diabetes treatment pattern
No treatment at all	42	13.6	9.7 to 18.8	75	17.3	12.7 to 23.1	0.068
Diet only	51	15.6	11.9 to 20.2	54	9.3	6.8 to 12.8
Insulin only (with or without diet)	33	10.8	7.1 to 16.0	56	11.6	8.5 to 15.7
Oral agents only (with or without diet)	166	51.9	45.1 to 58.7	262	48.2	42.6 to 53.8
Both insulin and oral agents (with or without diet)	30	8.0	5.3 to 12.1	67	13.6	10.0 to 18.2
Diabetes duration, years
<5	125	37.3	30.4 to 44.7	160	29.7	25.1 to 34.8	0.174
5–14	126	36.5	30.5 to 43.1	210	41.9	36.2 to 47.8
≥15	77	26.2	20.9 to 32.3	140	28.4	23.5 to 33.8
Continuous variables (mean)	n	Mean*	95% CI*	n	Mean*	95% CI*
Age, years	333	65.5	64.4 to 66.6	526	66.0	65.0 to 67.0	0.549
Age at diagnosis of diabetes, years	328	56.3	54.9 to 57.7	510	54.6	53.1 to 56.0	0.070
Diabetes duration, years	328	9.2	8.1 to 10.3	510	11.3	10.0 to 12.6	0.012

Denominators vary due to the number of persons with missing values. Missing values (GNHIES98, DEGS1): educational level (n=16, n=3), body mass index (n=5, n=4), smoking status (n=14, n=4), sports (n=16, n=33), diabetes treatment pattern (n=11, n=12), age at the initial diagnosis of diabetes and diabetes duration (n=5, n=16).
*Weighted and standardized to the population of 31 December 2010.
†Region: Northwest (federal states: Bremen, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, and Schleswig-Holstein); northeast (Berlin, Brandenburg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern); central west (Hessen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Saarland); central east (Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, and Thüringen); south (Baden-Württemberg and Bayern).
‡Educational attainment was classified using the international Comparative Analysis of Social Mobility in Industrial Nations (CASMIN) scale.