Objective: To assess the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in the urban population aged 30-79 years of the city of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Methods: It was performed a population survey, from August 2007 to June 2008. Non diabetic individuals, excluding pregnant women, and those with fasting capillary glycemia <or= 199 mg/dl were administered oral glucose tolerance test and classified as diabetic, with IGT or with normal glucose tolerance.
Results: The number of individuals who participated in the study was 1,116. The overall rates of DM and IGT were 13.5% and 5%, respectively. DM and IGT were associated with age, education, body mass index and waist. They were not associated with gender, race or income.
Conclusions: The prevalence of DM has increased when compared with previous studies in Brazil and in the state. Improvement in the diagnosis has occurred, however, treatment requires optimization.