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01-05-2006 | Article

The threshold for diagnosing impaired fasting glucose: a position statement by the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group

Authors: N. G. Forouhi, B. Balkau, K. Borch-Johnsen, J. Dekker, C. Glumer, Q. Qiao, A. Spijkerman, R. Stolk, A. Tabac, N. J. Wareham, On behalf of EDEG

Published in: Diabetologia | Issue 5/2006

Abstract

The category of IFG was introduced in the late 1990s to denote a state of non-diabetic hyperglycaemia defined by a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) concentration between 6.1 and 6.9 mmol/l. In 2003 the American Diabetes Association recommended that this diagnostic threshold be lowered to 5.6 mmol/l. The justification for lowering the threshold has been questioned. This simple change in cut-off value creates a pandemic of IFG, with a two- to five-fold increase in the prevalence of IFG across the world. Such a change in threshold has far-reaching public health implications. The European Diabetes Epidemiology Group (EDEG) has reviewed the evidence for this lower cut-off point for the definition of IFG and concludes that the previous definition should not be altered. EDEG further recommends that the value of all categorical definitions of non-diabetic hyperglycaemia should be reconsidered.

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Title: The threshold for diagnosing impaired fasting glucose: a position statement by the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group
Authors: N. G. Forouhi
B. Balkau
K. Borch-Johnsen
J. Dekker
C. Glumer
Q. Qiao
A. Spijkerman
R. Stolk
A. Tabac
N. J. Wareham
On behalf of EDEG
Publication date: 01-05-2006
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Diabetologia / Issue 5/2006
Print ISSN: 0012-186X
Electronic ISSN: 1432-0428
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-006-0189-4

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