Indicator Report - Diabetes Prevalence

Why 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 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://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/31/3/596.abstract).

A model using simulated data projected that diabetes incidence will increase from the current rate of 8 cases per 1,000 population to about 15 in 2050. Prevalence of diabetes (including undiagnosed cases) can be as high as one of three Americans by 2050.
(http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/8/1/29)

Percentage of Adults With Diabetes, Age-adjusted, Utah and U.S., 1989-2010

::chart - missing::

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 Sources

Utah Data: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Office of Public Health Assessment, Utah Department of Health. U.S. Data: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Other Views


Definition

Percentage of Utah adults diagnosed with diabetes.

How We Calculated the Rates

Numerator: Number of Utah adults who reported being told by a health care professional that they have diabetes (excludes women who were told they had diabetes only during pregnancy).
Denominator: Utah adults 18 and over.

Page Content Updated On 04/06/2012, Published on 04/09/2012
Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, Bureau of Health Promotion, Division of Disease Control and Prevention, Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-2107, Telephone: 801-538-6141, Fax: 801-538-9495, Website: http://health.utah.gov/diabetes, Contact: Brenda Ralls, Nathan Peterson, Email: bralls@utah.gov, nathanpeterson@utah.gov
The information provided above is from the Utah Department of Health's Center for Health Data IBIS-PH web site (http://ibis.health.utah.gov). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 16 May 2012 20:54:59 from Utah Department of Health, Center for Health Data, Indicator-Based Information System for Public Health Web site: http://ibis.health.utah.gov".

Content updated: Wed, 16 May 2012 20:54:59