Risk factors for prediabetes in community‐dwelling adults: A generalized estimating equation logistic regression approach with natural language processing insights

Abstract

The global prevalence of prediabetes is expected to reach 8.3% (587 million people) by 2045, with 70% of people with prediabetes developing diabetes during their lifetimes. We aimed to classify community‐dwelling adults with a high risk for prediabetes based on prediabetes‐related symptoms and to identify their characteristics, which might be factors associated with prediabetes. We analyzed homecare nursing records (n = 26,840) of 1628 patients aged over 20 years. Using a natural language processing algorithm, we classified each nursing episode as either low‐risk or high‐risk for prediabetes based on the detected number and category of prediabetes‐symptom words. To identify differences between the risk groups, we employed t‐tests, chi‐square tests, and data visualization. Risk factors for prediabetes were identified using multiple logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations. A total of 3270 episodes (12.18%) were classified as potentially high‐risk for prediabetes. There were significant differences in the personal, social, and clinical factors between groups. Results revealed that female sex, age, cancer coverage as part of homecare insurance coverage, and family caregivers were significantly associated with an increased risk of prediabetes. Although prediabetes is not a life‐threatening disease, uncontrolled blood glucose can cause unfavorable outcomes for other major diseases. Thus, medical professionals should consider the associated symptoms and risk factors of prediabetes. Moreover, the proposed algorithm may support the detection of individuals at a high risk for prediabetes. Implementing this approach could facilitate proactive monitoring and early intervention, leading to reduced healthcare expenses and better health outcomes for community‐dwelling adults.