Introduction
Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the leading, non-communicable causes of premature death and disability.1 In 2010, an estimated 7.4% of the population in England had DM, with the proportion expected to increase to 9.5% by 2030.2 Germany is experiencing the same phenomenon, with the prevalence of DM expected to rise from 10.5% in 2010 to 16.3% in 2040.3 DM dramatically increases an individual’s risk of developing sequelae. A cohort study on 3020 patients with lacunar stroke reported 37% with DM at baseline.4 A study on 832 individuals who were hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) reported a DM prevalence of 9.7%.5 DM is also a major risk factor of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). In 2013, 24% of incident renal replacement therapy users as a result of ESRD had DM as the primary cause of ESRD.6 These sequelae of DM will impose an increasing burden on individuals and health systems. Global estimates of the economic burden of DM in 2015 were approximately US$1.31 trillion, 1.8% of the global gross domestic product.7 DM prevalence is high in those aged 45 and above, although there is a rising trend of individuals aged 30–39 being diagnosed.8 Those with early-onset DM below age 45 have a 14-fold greater risk of developing AMI as compared with the fourfold risk for those above age 45.9 Given the expected increase in DM prevalence, this figure will correspondingly rise, with a significant proportion attributable to sequelae.
The greater susceptibility to DM of the Asian genotypes—the recent prevalence being 10.9% in China,10 17.5% in Malaysia,11 9.9% in Thailand,12 and 5.7% in Indonesia,13 although rates are high throughout the region—further exacerbates these trends in the most populous continent. Within South-East Asia, multiethnic Singapore is primarily composed of Chinese, Malays and Indian ethnicities and is therefore expected to face high complication rates with the rapidly increasing prevalence of DM from 2% in 1975 to 11% in 201014; this prevalence is projected to reach one in six adults by 2050.15 Interethnic differences in the risk of diabetic complications are known to exist16 and warrant some exploration in the context of Singapore. In the UK, significant disparities were identified between major ethnic groups in terms of DM prevalence and associated chronic kidney disease, with South Asians exhibiting higher prevalence of DM and more severe kidney disease relative to the Caucasian population.17
As in many countries, Singapore’s population is aging, and the proportion of individuals aged 60 and above is expected to rise from 13.3% in 2010 to 31.9% in 2050, making it a superaged country. At a population level, the rapidly aging population and low mortality rates will increase the proportion of people living with DM, which will drastically increase the number of individuals at risk of developing sequelae. The prevalence of DM in Singapore for citizens and permanent residents aged 18–69 rose from 7.3% in 1992 to 8.6% in 2017,18 and the International Diabetes Federation estimates a DM prevalence of 13.7% for the entire adult population, inclusive of foreigners.19 In response to the rising prevalence of DM, the Singapore government in 2016 declared ‘war’ on diabetes,20 leading to a multipronged, nationwide response. To guide effective policy planning and interventions, estimates of the burden of DM are required. We therefore aim to assess the combined effects of age, gender and ethnicity on the risk for three main morbidities associated with DM—AMI, stroke, and ESRD—stratified by DM status among adults aged 40–79 in Singapore, using Bayesian evidence synthesis to pool information from cross-sectional and registry databases, and to project forward to 2050 using an individual-level model.