More than 40% of American adults aged 20 years and older have hyperglycemic conditions, according to review of data from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
In this study, Catherine Cowie, Ph.D., of the National Institutes of Health and her colleagues compared NHANES data for 1988–1994 with data for 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 individuals aged 20 years and older. The total diabetes prevalence peaked at approximately 30% among all age groups older than 60 years, and the prevalence of diabetes was approximately the same in both 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%, and this prevalence was highest among individuals aged 75 years and older, where it reached 47%.
The total prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, was significantly higher in men, compared with women (48% vs. 34%), but most of this difference was because of the greater prevalence of prediabetes among men. And the prevalence of any hyperglycemic condition was significantly higher in non-Hispanic blacks, compared with whites (44% vs. 39%), and in Mexican Americans vs. non-Hispanic whites (52% vs. 39%).
When the researchers compared the 2005–2006 data with the data for 1988–1994, they found that the crude prevalence of diagnosed diabetes rose significantly, 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 researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.