JAMA: Half of U.S. population either pre-diabetic or diabetic

CHICAGO - In 2011-2012, the estimated prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults was 12% to 14% and the prevalence of prediabetes was 37% to 38%, indicating that about half of the U.S. adult population has either diabetes or prediabetes, according to a study in the Sept. 8 issue of JAMA. Though data from recent years suggests that the increasing prevalence of diabetes may be leveling off.

 

"Although obesity and type 2 diabetes remain major clinical and public health problems in the United States, the current data provide a glimmer of hope," wrote William Herman and Amy Rothberg, both of the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, in an accompanying editorial."The shift in cultural attitudes toward obesity, the American Medical Association's recognition of obesity as a disease and the increasing focus on societal interventions to address food policy and the built environment are beginning to address some of the broad environmental forces that have contributed to the epidemic of obesity," they noted. "The effort of the AMA to promote screening, testing and referral of high-risk patients for diabetes prevention through its Prevent Diabetes STAT program and the CDC's efforts to increase the availability of diabetes prevention programs, ensure their quality, and promote their use appear to be helping to identify at-risk individuals and provide the infrastructure to support individual behavioral change."

 

The prevalence of total diabetes increased from 9.8% in 1988-1994 to 10.8% in 2001-2002 to 12.4% in 2011-2012 and increased significantly in every age group, in both sexes, in every racial/ethnic group and by all education levels.

 

In the overall 2011-2012 population, the unadjusted prevalence was 14.3% for total diabetes, 9.1% for diagnosed diabetes, 5.2% for undiagnosed diabetes and 38% for prediabetes. Among those with diabetes, 36.4% were undiagnosed.

 

Compared with non-Hispanic white participants (11.3%), the prevalence of total diabetes was higher among non-Hispanic black participants (21.8%), non-Hispanic Asian participants (20.6%) and Hispanic participants (22.6%).

 

The prevalence of prediabetes was greater than 30% in all sex and racial/ethnic categories, and generally highest among non-Hispanic white individuals and non-Hispanic black individuals.

 

The percentage of cases that were undiagnosed was higher among non-Hispanic Asian participants (50.9%) and Hispanic participants (49%) than all other racial/ethnic groups.

 

Diabetes is a major cause of illness and death in the United States, costing an estimated $245 billion in 2012 due to increased use of health resources and lost productivity.