The Role of Ethnicity in Post-Pancreatitis Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Hispanic ethnicity and a prior history of pancreatitis are both known risk factors for the development of diabetes, but the role of ethnicity in the pathogenesis of post-pancreatitis diabetes is not known. We hypothesized that Hispanic patients would have an increased incidence of diabetes following hospitalization for acute pancreatitis compared with non-Hispanic white patients. A query of the University of New Mexico Hospital billing database revealed 887 Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients admitted with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis between 1991 and 1995. A retrospective, chart review study of 98 cases of post-pancreatitis diabetes was performed. Ethnicity was designated as Hispanic or non-Hispanic white by surname using the previously validated GUESS program. The main outcome measure for the study was the frequency of occurrence of post-pancreatitis diabetes according to ethnicity. Thirty seven (8.8%) of the 421 non-Hispanic white patients had post-pancreatitis diabetes compared with 61 (13.1%) of the 466 Hispanic patients (p < 0.05 by χ ²). Relative to previously published diabetes incidence rates from the northern Rio Grande Valley, patients with a prior history of pancreatitis were significantly more likely to develop diabetes: odds ratio = 3.65 (95% confidence interval = 2.31, 5.76; p < 0.001). Adjustment for age did not affect this relationship. The risk of developing diabetes among Hispanic patients compared with non-Hispanic white patients, however, did not differ between the patients with post-pancreatitis diabetes in the current study and those without a history of pancreatitis in previously published reports. Although patients with a history of acute pancreatitis have an increased incidence of diabetes mellitus, the inherent genetic predisposition of Hispanic individuals to diabetes does not appear to increase the rate of development of post-pancreatitis diabetes.