Aims: This study aimed to investigate the frequency of islet autoantibody positivity in adult patients with recently diagnosed diabetes in Uganda and its associated characteristics. Methods: Autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 (GADA), zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8-A), and tyrosine phosphatase (IA-2A) were measured in 534 adult patients with recently diagnosed diabetes. Islet autoantibody positivity was defined based on diagnostic thresholds derived from a local adult population without diabetes. The socio-demographic, clinical, and metabolic characteristics of islet autoantibody-positive and negative participants were then compared. The differences in these characteristics were analysed using the x2 test for categorical data and the Kruskal Wallis test for continuous data. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify predictors of islet autoantibody positivity.

Keywords

Autoantibodies; Diabetes mellitus; Insulin; Uganda; Diagnostic medicine; Rural areas; Diabetes diagnosis and management; Type 2 diabetes