Do risk factors for prediabetes differ from type 2 diabetes?
No, risk factors for prediabetes do not differ from type 2 diabetes. Both conditions share the same risk factors, and prediabetes is itself a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.5,9 See Table 2 for prediabetes/type 2 diabetes risk factors. While prediabetes and type 2 diabetes share the same risk factors, persons with prediabetes can reduce their blood glucose levels to normal values and reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Currently, there is not enough information to warrant distinguishing prediabetes and diabetes risk factors. As we learn more about the differing pathophysiologies of IGT and IFG and their relation to the onset of type 2 diabetes, as well as preventive interventions, distinguishing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes risk factors might become possible.
The risk of progressing to diabetes depends on the type of prediabetes that a person has (IFG only, IGT only, or both), as well as other diabetes risk factors. Individuals with prediabetes who are older, overweight, and have a family history of diabetes and gestational diabetes are more likely to progre–ss to diabetes.5 Individuals with prediabetes are 5-15 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than are people with normal glucose values.4 Individuals with both IFG and IGT develop diabetes approximately twice as often as individuals with just one of the two conditions.5 Annual progression to diabetes Studies in the United States and abroad show that, for persons with IGT, between 2% and 34% will develop type 2 diabetes annually; for persons with IFG, between 1.5% and 23% will develop diabetes annually.4 Two randomized controlled trials of diabetes prevention, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and the Finish Diabetes Prevention Study, demonstrated that 3–5% of individuals with
