Prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the James Bay Cree of northern Quebec.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of diabetes mellitus among the James Bay Cree in northern Quebec. DESIGN Chart survey of physician-diagnosed cases of diabetes. The biochemical criteria of the World Health Organization were used to confirm the diagnoses. SETTING Eight James Bay Cree communities: six remote and two rural. SUBJECTS All James Bay Cree with diabetes whose names were in a chronic disease registry or on a diabetes clinic list kept at each community clinic. OUTCOME MEASURES Prevalence rates, both crude and standardized to the 1986 Canadian population, were estimated by sex, age group and type of diabetes. RESULTS A total of 235 cases of diabetes were confirmed, for a crude prevalence of 2.7%. The age-standardized rate of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was 6.6% among people 20 years and over. The prevalence increased as the latitude decreased. CONCLUSIONS Our crude prevalence resembles that in similar native linguistic and cultural groups elsewhere in Canada. Diabetes is becoming an important disease in the Cree population of Quebec. A better understanding of the sociocultural changes in this population is necessary.