While median prevalence of diabetes increased from 4.5% to 8.2% from 1995 to 2010, it was highest in the South (9.8%) compared to the Midwest (7.5%), Northeast (7.3%), and West (7.3%).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted telephone surveys on self-reported diabetes in adults collected during 1995 to 2010 by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Results appeared online Nov. 16 at MMWR.
The age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes increased in the same time span across the U.S. In 1995, age-adjusted prevalence was 6% or more in only three states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico, but by 2010 it was 6% or more in every state, DC, and Puerto Rico, and 10% or more in six states and Puerto Rico.
In 2010, age-adjusted prevalence was highest 10% or more in Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, and lowest (6% to 6.9%) in 12 states: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Vermont and Wyoming.
The relative increase in age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes was a median 82.2% for all states, but it was 226.7% in Oklahoma.
The growth in diabetes could be from many sources, including changes in diagnostic criteria, enhanced detection of undiagnosed diabetes, an aging population and growth of minority populations who are at greater risk for diabetes, and an increase in obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
The report continued, "Although the contribution of each factor to increasing diabetes incidence cannot be discerned, the increase in diabetes prevalence coincides with the increase in obesity prevalence across the United States."
Percentage change in age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults
