Impaired fasting glucose (IFG), a condition that most times precedes diabetes, generally does not produce any symptoms. In 2003, the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus recommended a lower cutoff point (from 110mg/dl to 100mg/dl) for fasting plasma glucose to confirm its diagnosis, a measure officially endorsed by the Brazilian Society of Diabetes (BSD) in 2005. The objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of patients who presented IFG seen at the State University Hospital Oswaldo Cruz, utilizing both criteria of diagnosis, from August to November 2005. The sample consisted of 428 individuals, 65% of whom were females, with a mean age of 52.3 years (± 15.4) and a percentage of 78.3% of this population were 40 years old. From the total sample, 4% presented a fasting glucose level suggestive of diabetes ( 126mg/dl), while 7% presented glycemia values between 110mg/dl and < 126mg/dl, all of these patients were aged 40 years. The new criteria proposed for the diagnosis of IFG showed that the frequency of IFG patients has increased to 14.7% and their age has fallen to > 20. These results suggest, with this new diagnosis criterion, a higher sensibility in the detection of IFG among subjects in the age range studied.
Impaired fasting glucose; Criteria of diagnosis; Diabetes mellitus
