Clinical characteristics and associated risk factors of prediabetes in the Southwestern Region of Korea from 2010–2019

This study investigated the clinical characteristics and associated risk factors of prediabetes in the southwestern region of Korea. A total of 323 subjects from 13 prediabetes studies were included in the data analysis. Subjects with prediabetes were divided into the following subtypes: (1) normal glucose tolerance (NGT) with HbA1c 5.7%–6.4%; (2) isolated impaired fasting glucose (I-IFG); (3) isolated impaired glucose tolerance (I-IGT); and (4) combined I-IFG and I-IGT (C-IFG/IGT). Clinical and biochemical variables were compared among subtypes, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for prediabetes subtypes. The overall proportion of subjects with NGT, I-IFG, I-IGT and C-IFG/IGT was 8.4%, 20.7%, 33.1% and 37.8%, respectively. In men, C-IFG/IGT was the most common subtype, while in women, I-IGT was the most common. The parameters related to dysglycemia, atherosclerosis and liver dysfunction were higher in subjects in the C-IFG/IGT subtype than in other subtypes. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed independent risk factors for increased FPG, 2h-PPG and HbA1c levels. This study identified the clinical features and independent risk factors for prediabetes subtypes.