Objective To analyse the progression of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) in the elderly after a follow-up of eight years. Methods The retired military officers with IFG underwent an oral glucose tolerance test from May to June in 2002,and 62 cases with I-IFG were recruited. According to the new IFG diagnosis criterion of ADA in 2003 year, 62 cases with I-IFG were divided into added IFG group(FPG:5.6-6.09 mmol/L) and original IFG group(FPG:6.1-6.99 mmol/L).All patients were followed up for eight years. Results The levels of TC,LDL-C, HDL-C,TG, blood pressure, and BMI showed no significant differences between added IFG group and original IFG groups(P0.05)at baseline.At the endpoint of follow-up, 20.59% of the cases progressed to diabetes in added IFG group, compared with 46.43% in original IFG group (P0.05). But there were no significant differences in the rate of cases converting to NGT,or still keeping I-IFG or IFG/IGT between two groups(P0.05).Of all the cases of IFG, 32.25% progressed to diabetes,14.52% reverting to NGT, 53.23% presenting with I-IFG or IFG combined with IGT. Conclusions The prevalence rate of IFG increased significantly according to the new criteria of IFG. The progression rate from added IFG to diabetes is lower than that of original IFG.