This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
US diabetes rate may be leveling off
Although the incidence and prevalence of diabetes doubled in the United States from 1990 to 2008 among adults, new data suggest the rate may have plateaued between 2008 and 2012, according to recent study findings published in JAMA.
Linda S. Geiss, MA, of the CDC, and colleagues evaluated data from 1980 to 2012 for 664,969 adults aged 20 to 79 years to determine changes in prevalence rates and incidence of diagnosed diabetes, both type 1 and 2 combined.
In 1990, diabetes prevalence per 100 person-years was 3.5, increasing to 7.9 in 2008 and 8.3 in 2012. The incidence per 1,000 person-years was 3.2 in 1990, 8.8 in 2008 and 7.1 in 2012.
Between 1990 and 2008, both incidence and prevalence increased sharply (incidence, 4.7%; prevalence, 4.5%) but leveled off without significant changes from 2008 and 2012 (incidence, –5.4%; prevalence, 0.6%).
However, diabetes incidence continues to increase among Hispanic adults, non-Hispanic black adults and those with a high school education or less, according to researchers.
“This threatens to exacerbate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in diabetes prevalence and incidence,” the researchers wrote. “Furthermore, in light of the well-known excess risk of amputation, blindness, end-stage renal disease, disability, mortality and health care costs associated with diabetes, the doubling of diabetes incidence and prevalence ensures that diabetes will remain a major public health problem that demands effective prevention and management programs.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.