Evidence Gap on the Prevalence of Non-conventional Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes in Iran

OBJECTIVES Robust scientific evidence exists about the role of non-conventional risk factors in type 2 diabetes worldwide. The current epidemiological pattern of the disease in Iran suggests a precipitating role for these non-conventional risk factors. This review was performed to examine the research evidence suggesting a higher prevalence of non-conventional type 2 diabetes risk factors in Iran. METHODS MeSH keywords were applied to search several databases, including PUBMED, MEDLINE, AMED, EMBASE, Iran DOC, and the Scientific Information Database without a time limit from inception to September 2011. The quality of the non-interventional and population-based studies on Iranians included in these databases was assessed by the authors and any disagreement was resolved with consensus. RESULTS The literature search yielded 1847 publications, of which 62 were included in this study after eliminating non-relevant and overlapping papers. No study was found that verified a higher prevalence of the non-conventional type 2 diabetes risk factors in the Iranian population. CONCLUSION The identified evidence gap about the role of prominent non-conventional risk factors of type 2 diabetes in the Iranian population could be a major caveat in the application of an evidence-based approach to endorse or reject existing hypothesis about these risk factors. Studies on the prevalence of non-conventional biomarkers of type 2 diabetes among Iranians could be a promising area of research.