Diabetes in Trinidad

ABSTRACT

A study has been made of the age, sex, weight and parity of 251 diabetics seen at a hospital clinic in South Trinidad. All but 8 of the patients were over the age of 30 and most were between 40 and 60 years of age. Women heavily outnumbered men, even among the younger patients. In comparison with 251 age and sex-matched controls chosen from non-diabetic hospital patients, the diabetics were heavier; this was equally true for women and men. With increasing age the difference of weight between diabetics and normals did not increase. Women outnumbered men among those who were not overweight as well as among those who were. There was no consistent relatonship between weight and parity. The distribution of weights did not suggest any sharp cleavage between underweight and overweight types of diabetes. The parity of the diabetics was greater than that of the controls. There was no tendency for diabetes to be diagnosed earlier among the highly parous women than among the less parous. (AU)