High prevalence of coexisting prehypertension and prediabetes among healthy adults in northern and northeastern China

Background Prehypertension and prediabetes are major risk factors of cardiovascular disease, and their combined presence may result in more serious cardiovascular outcomes than expected with either prehypertension or prediabetes alone. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of coexisting prehypertension and prediabetes, and the associated risk profiles in a Chinese population. Methods A cross-sectional survey in a representative sample of 3,595 men and 4,593 women aged 18 years and older was performed between 2008 and 2010. Prehypertension and prediabetes were diagnosed using the guidelines from the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, and treatment of high blood pressure and American Diabetes Association, respectively. Prehypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure of 120-139 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure of 80-89 mmHg, and prediabetes was defined as a fasting blood glucose of 5.6-6.9 mmol/L. Results The prevalence of coexisting prehypertension and prediabetes was 11.0%. Men had a higher prevalence of coexisting prehypertension and prediabetes than women (14.2% vs. 8.4%; P < 0.0001). This prevalence increased with age and body mass index, and was the lowest among Mongolian-Chinese (5.1%). A multivariate analysis showed that γ-glutamyltransferase and uric acid were significantly and positively correlated with body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, and negatively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol in subjects with prehypertension and prediabetes. Conclusions There is a large proportion of Chinese adults with coexisting prehypertension and prediabetes. Thus, there is a need for more efforts that implement public health programs that target the earlier stages of hypertension and diabetes.