2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study selection
The Medline database was searched for publications between January 1989 and March 2009, using the following search term “Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology” MeSH AND “Prevalence” MeSH. Studies were identified that reported on the prevalence of diabetes for at least three adult age-groups from a population-based sample. A number of other avenues were explored in the search for relevant data. Relevant citations from each article were obtained, and diabetes researchers in each major IDF geographical region, and IDF member associations in each member country were asked about relevant data.