Characteristics of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus in a population undergoing health screening in Japan: target populations for efficient screening.

Aims: To estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes mellitus and its relationship with various risk factors in a population undergoing health screening in Japan.

Methods: Oral glucose tolerance tests were carried out in a total sample of 14,674 Japanese subjects undergoing health screening, aged 20-83 years and without known diabetes. The prevalence of glucose tolerance categories (1999 WHO criteria) was adjusted for sample probabilities.