Table 1

Characteristics of the study population in the year following the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes stratified by whether individuals were tested and reached detection thresholds for pre-diabetes before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes

TotalNo glycemic measures recorded before the diagnosis of T2DGlycemic values within the normal range before the diagnosis of T2DPre-diabetes detected before the diagnosis of T2DP value
N159 73693 94921 90243 885
%58.813.727.4
Type of glycemic measures recorded before diagnosis of T2D (%)
 FPG82.174.4
 HbA1C38.458.2
 OGTT4.522.6
 Multiple tests23.753
Time from testing to diagnosis of T2D, months; mean (SD)33.0 (6.1)33.1 (6.0)33.0 (6.2)
Female (%)49.248.855.646.7<0.001*
Age, years (SD)61.5 (14.4)60.2 (14.8)61.3 (14.8)64.3 (12.6)<0.001†
Ethnicity (%)
 White83.082.784.582.9<0.001*
 South Asian3.63.14.34.3<0.001*
 Black2.42.23.12.7
 Other3.12.93.43.3
 Unknown7.99.24.76.9
Smoking status (%)
 Non-smoker35.436.835.832.3<0.001*
 Ex-smoker51.643.446.351.6
 Current smoker16.119.817.916.1
HbA1c at diagnosis, mmol/mol; mean (SD)55.2 (20.7)59.4 (20.8)47.0 (19.1)50.4 (18.9)<0.001†
BMI, kg/m2; mean (SD)30.30 (6.7)30.0 (6.7)29.7 (7.0)31.3 (6.5)<0.001†
SBP, mm Hg; mean (SD)136.4 (15.9)136.4 (16.6)134.0 (15.7)137.4 (14.3)<0.001†
DBP, mm Hg; mean (SD)79.7 (9.4)80.1 (9.6)78.7 (9.3)79.5 (8.8)<0.001†
Total cholesterol, mmol/L; mean (SD)5.1 (1.1)5.2 (1.1)5.0 (1.1)4.9 (1.1)<0.001†
No of chronic diseases; mean (SD)2.7 (2.0)2.4 (1.9)3.2 (2.1)3.1 (2.0)<0.001†
Medications (%)
 Anti-hypertensive53.847.553.267.6<0.001*
 ACEi/ARBs39.034.137.950.2<0.001*
  Anti-lipid medications49.644.245.163.3<0.001*
  Anti-diabetic‡38.444.719.534.3<0.001*
 Biguanides34.639.817.032.3<0.001*
 Sulfonylureas8.511.43.84.5<0.001*
  Insulin2.73.52.11.2<0.001*
  Other0.10.10.10.20.015*
 Anti-platelet27.024.226.333.1<0.001*
No of primary care visits in the year before T2D diagnosis; mean (SD)12.9 (11.7)11.1 (10.9)16.8 (13.5)14.7 (11.6)<0.001§
Index of Multiple Deprivation quintiles (%)
 1 Q—least deprived14.114.612.613.7<0.001*
 2 Q19.119.519.118.2<0.001*
 3 Q19.019.117.919.4
 4 Q22.321.123.724.2
 5 Q—most deprived25.625.826.724.5
  • Results are presented using WHO/International Expert Committee criteria for the definition of pre-diabetes. Clinical data within 3 years before the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes were used to define the detection of pre-diabetes. P values from χ2, ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, as appropriate, are reported for comparison between the three groups defined by testing and detection of pre-diabetes.

  • WHO/ International Expert Committee criteria to define pre-diabetes: FPG: 6.1–6.9 mmol/L; OGTT 7.8–11.1 mmol/L; HbA1c 42 to 47 mmol/mol or 6.0%–6.4%.

  • 2 test was performed to assess the unadjusted difference between groups.

  • †ANOVA test was performed to assess the unadjusted difference between groups.

  • ‡If an individual was prescribed multiple medications from different anti-diabetic classes, each class was considered (eg, for an individual who was prescribed biguanides and sulfonylureas in the year following the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, data were recorded as follows: anti-diabetic YES; biguanides YES; sulfonylureas YES; insulin NO; other anti-diabetic NO).

  • §Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to assess the unadjusted difference between groups.

  • ACEi, ACE inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; BMI, body mass index; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; FPG, fasting plasma glucose; OGTT, oral glucose tolerance test (2 hours after 75 g glucose load); SBP, systolic blood pressure; T2D, type 2 diabetes.