Abstract: Objective To investigate the prevalence trend and risk factors of self-reported diabetes mellitus in the elderly people living in urban areas of Nanjing. Methods Two cross-sectional surveys were undertaken in the same urban areas of Nanjing, China, in 2000 and 2017. The same multi-stage sampling approach was used to randomly select participants. Demographic features and health-related behaviors were collected using questionnaires, and the height and weight were measured. Chi-square test was used to examine the demographic features, prevalence rate and epidemiological distribution of self-reported diabetes mellitus between the subjects in 2000 and those in 2017. Results The prevalence of self-reported diabetes mellitus in the elderly population of Nanjing was 6.1%(95%CI: 0.055-0.067)in 2000 and 20.2%(95%CI: 0.192-0.212)in 2017 (P<0.05), respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the self-reported prevalence rate in the elderly with same gender, age, education level, smoking, drinking, BMI and physical activity (P<0.05)between the two groups.There was significant difference in the prevalence of self-reported diabetes mellitus between the elderly with different age in each group (P<0.05). In 2000, there were significant differences in the prevalence among the elderly with different levels of education and drinking (P<0.05).In 2017, there were significant differences in the prevalence among the elderly with different levels of BMI and physical activity(P<0.05). Conclusions The prevalence of self-reported diabetes mellitus is high in the elderly population in Nanjing, which shows a time-dependent trend of increase.

Key words: diabetes mellitus, aged, self-reported prevalence