Evaluation of the Factors Causing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on Age of Onset in the İstanbul Kartal Region

Objective: We planned to investigate the age of onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in our region and the factors affecting it in the İstanbul Kartal Region.
Methods: Age at diagnosis, body mass index, exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, and co-morbidity anamnesis were taken from 566 T2DM patients who applied to our hospital. Factors related to diabetes were questioned in these cases.
Results: The mean age of onset for all cases was 50.01±10.50 years, whereas the age at diagnosis was 49.20 years in females and 51.40 years in males. The mean age at diagnosis is 47.11±9.56 (p=0.001) years in women with maternal T2DM, and it decreased to 45.89±9.57 years in women with paternal T2DM (p=0.001). In males, the mean age at diagnosis was 54.16±11.10 years in the absence of maternal T2DM, whereas it decreased to 47.93±9.58 years in the maternal T2DM (p=0.001). The presence of T2DM on the paternal side in men did not affect the age at diagnosis. In addition, a positive correlation was found between the number of pregnancies and age at diagnosis (p=0.001). Obesity, educational status, exercise, nutritional status, smoking, and marital status did not affect the age of onset.
Conclusion: Our study showed that female gender and family history decreased the age of onset of T2DM, whereas the total number of pregnancies increased the age at diagnosis. Our study results suggest that T2DM screening should be performed earlier in women and/or those with a family history of T2DM.