The ICMR-INDIAB Study: Results from the National Study on Diabetes in India

Diabetes and related metabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as hypertension and obesity, are no longer only a problem in affluent industrialized countries; prevalence rates are rapidly rising in developing nations like India as well. Given that diabetes is becoming increasingly prevalent in India on account of rapid urbanization and economic development, reliable epidemiological data are essential for estimating the effects and determinants of diabetes and facilitating the development of prevention and control methods. Though several regional studies exist, the marked heterogeneity between states and regions of India limits the generalizability of their results. The national Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes (ICMR-INDIAB) study was designed and conducted to provide accurate and comprehensive state- and national-level data on the prevalence of diabetes and other metabolic NCDs in India. The ICMR-INDIAB study was conducted in all 30 states/union territories of India between 2008 and 2020. The study reports on the prevalence of various cardiometabolic disease risk factors such as diabetes, prediabetes, obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia, assessment of knowledge of diabetes in the general population and those with known diabetes, achievement of diabetes treatment targets and the role of migration, diet and physical inactivity on diabetes. This study, the largest nationally representative population-based study conducted in India, thereby helps to estimate the burden of diabetes and other metabolic NCDs in a representative sample of adults living in both urban and rural India.