More than 40% of Americans aged at least 20 years have hyperglycemic conditions, according to review of the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health, and her colleagues compared NHANES data from 1988-1994 to that of 2005-2006 (Diabetes Care 2009;32:287-94).
The total crude prevalence of diabetes, including diagnosed and undiagnosed cases based on fasting plasma glucose or 2-hour glucose tests, was 13% in those aged 20 and older. The total diabetes prevalence peaked at about 30% among those older than 60 years, and the prevalence of diabetes was about the same in men and women.
After the researchers controlled for age and sex, the total diabetes prevalence was 70% higher in non-Hispanic blacks and 80% higher in Mexican Americans, compared with non-Hispanic whites.
The total crude prevalence of prediabetes, including both diagnosed and undiagnosed cases based on impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) tests, was 30%. This rate was highest among those aged 75 and older, where it reached 47%.
The total prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes, diagnosed and undiagnosed, was significantly higher in men (48% vs. 34%) but this was due largely to the greater prevalence of prediabetes among men. The prevalence of any hyperglycemic condition was significantly higher in non-Hispanic blacks vs. whites (44% vs. 39%) and in Mexican Americans vs. non-Hispanic whites (52% vs. 39%).
A comparison of the 2005-2006 data with that of 1988-1994 showed a significant rise in the crude prevalence of diagnosed diabetes from 5% to 8%.
“The sheer magnitude of prevalence of hyperglycemic conditions found in 2005-2006 portends all the consequences of diabetes, including its myriad of complications and costs both to individuals and to society,” the researchers wrote.
The results were limited by the use of a single plasma glucose reading for some cases of undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes, they noted.
The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.