Original articlePrevalence of acanthosis nigricans and its association with hyperinsulinemia in New Mexico adolescents1
Section snippets
Study population
The research protocol was approved by the University of New Mexico Human Research Review Committee. Twelve schools (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades), geographically and ethnically representative of New Mexico middle schools, participated in the study. Several weeks before the screening, students were given information about diabetes and the project. An informed consent form which included permission for the student to be screened for AN and fasting insulin and glucose testing, signed by the
Characteristics of participants in AN screening
Of the 675 participants, 52.4% were female. The mean age was 13.5 years; the majority of the students (99.5%) were between 12 and 15 years of age. Forty-six percent (46.5%) of the students were Hispanic and 19% were Native American. More than one in four students (26.8%) were obese and 11.3% reported having a parent with diabetes.
Prevalence of AN
Of the 675 students, 128 (18.9%) had AN. The prevalence varied by ethnicity: 19.7% of Hispanic students and 38.6% of Native American students had AN compared with 4.7%
Discussion
When combined with obesity, AN substantially increased the predictive value for detecting adolescents with hyperinsulinemia. In addition, although obesity is associated with hyperinsulinemia and AN, we demonstrated that the presence of AN is an independent predictor of hyperinsulinemia in adolescents. Almost half of the students who were obese and had AN had hyperinsulinemia. Among Native Americans, more than one-fourth of the students are estimated to have hyperinsulinemia. When these
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the New Mexico Department of Health, Public Health Division. The authors particularly thank Charles Stuart, M.D., and Charles Gilkison, M.S.N., University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, for generously sharing their medical expertise and materials. Thanks also to David Espey, M.D., Ellen Kaufman, M.D., Susan Scott, M.D., and Pat Boyle, M.D. In addition, the authors thank all of the many New Mexico Public Health Division staff, school
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