Indicator Profile of Diabetes PrevalenceWhy Is This Important?Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. Nearly 24 million Americans (about 8% of the U.S. population) have diabetes. However, data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III) indicate that about one-fourth to one-third of people with diabetes (over 6 million Americans) have diabetes but don't know they have it and are undiagnosed. In Utah, approximately 45,000 people have diabetes but are not yet diagnosed.Diabetes is a disease that can have devastating consequences. It is the leading cause of non-traumatic lower-extremity amputation and renal failure. It is also the leading cause of blindness among adults younger than 75. It is one of the leading causes of heart disease. Diabetes places an enormous burden on health care resources, approximately $174 billion annually ($116 billion in direct medical costs and $58 billion in indirect costs such as disability, work loss, and premature mortality). (See American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp) Data Notes"Don't know" and "Refused" responses were eliminated from the denominator. Rates are age-adjusted and standardized to the U.S. 2000 population.Data SourcesU.S. Data: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS); Utah Data: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Office of Public Health Assessment, Utah Department of Health;Other Views
DefinitionDiabetes prevalence for this indicator refers to the percentage of Utah adults diagnosed with diabetes.How We Calculated the Rates
Page Content Updated On 10/27/09,
Published on 10/28/09
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