During the fifteen year period from 1975 to 1989 a mass health examination was continuously conducted on the members and their families of all agricultural cooperative associations in Hiroshima prefecture. Using the results from over 12, 000 oral glucose tolerance tests performed on all examinees in the program, the prevalence of diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and borderline diabetes were obtained by sex and age.
The prevalence of diabetes was higher among males than females, and the prevalence increased with age. The prevalence for males was around 5% in the 45-65 year old age group, and was more than 10% in the over 65 year old age group. The prevalence for females was less than 5% in those under 55 years, and went up to between 6 and 9% in those over 60 years olds. The prevalence of IGT and borderline diabetes also increased with age, but the sex differences were not as large as for diabetes. The prevalence of IGT was over 20% in the older generations.