Modifiable Risk Factors Associated by Gender With the Onset of Prediabetes in Apparently Healthy Adults from the Doukkala Region (Morocco).

The study aims to identify the impact of modifiable risk factors on the onset of prediabetes in an apparently healthy adult population from the Doukkala region of Morocco, and to propose effective prevention strategies based on a better understanding of the key risk factors of the prediabetic stage and their interactions. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 366 apparently healthy volunteers from Doukkala. Participants were divided into two groups: normoglycemic (NG: N=319) and prediabetic (PDT: N=47). The analyzed risk factors included three categories: Anthropometric, sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire during 3 years (from January 2018 to December 2021). Chi-square comparisons between normoglycemic and prediabetic groups revealed that for anthropometric factors: age, general obesity and abdominal obesity were independently associated with prediabetes in the overall sample, and also respectively across women and across men. The association of these factors to PDT, revealed that the risks were multiplied respectively, by 5.42 (p<0.001) for age in the total sample, by 6.47 (p=0.001) in women and by 4.17 (p=0.018) in men. For the two obesity indices (BMI and AO), the overweight BMI’s class was the class that showed the highest risk to develop PDT, both in total sample (OR: 3.89, p<0.001) and by sex (OR: 3.48, p=0.013) in women and (OR: 4.51, p=0.013) in men. When considering abdominal obesity, the OR’s values indicated highest significative risk to PDT development both in total sample (OR: 2.61, p=0.004) and by sex (OR: 2.56, p=0.049) in women and (OR: 3.17, p=0.036) in men. Regarding hypertension, it showed also a significative OR’s value in the total sample (OR: 3.12, p=0.001), but this total sample risk can be attributed only to women (OR: 3.20, p=0.005) and not to men. For dyslipidemia, the only parameter that showed a significative association risk to PDT was hypoHDLemia, being women the own sex to present a significative OR (p=0.024). Sociodemographic parameters revealed significant differences between the PDT and NG groups, only for educational level and marital status, while the lifestyle risk factors do not show any association with PDT. Nevertheless, comparisons between sexes showed some significant differences for tobacco and stress. Our findings highlight that age and weight are the main anthropometric risk factors for the development of prediabetes in the general population. Hypertension and hypoHDLemia were the main biochemical risk factors associated with prediabetes particularly in women. These characteristics seems to be shaped by differences between women and men in stress and smoking lifestyles, and by the patterns of educational levels and marital status for sociodemographic factors. Other results underline gender disparities that should also be considered in recommendations aiming to prevent prediabetes or delay its progression to T2D.