Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1987: Estimates from a national outpatient data base

Sarah Valway; William Freeman; Stephen Kaufman; Thomas Welty; Steven D Helgerson; Dorothy Gohdes

doi:10.2337/diacare.16.1.271

Supplement 1: Diabetes in Native Americans

Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, 1987: Estimates from a national outpatient data base

Sarah Valway, DMD, MPH,
William Freeman, MD, MPH,
Stephen Kaufman, MS,
Thomas Welty, MD, MPH,
Steven D Helgerson, MD, MPH and
Dorothy Gohdes, MD

Indian Health Service Diabetes Program Albuquerque, New Mexico Indian Health Service, Portland Area Diabetes Program, Lummi Indian Health Center Bellingham, Washington Indian Health Service, Program Statistics Rockville, Maryland Indian Health Service Diabetes Program, Aberdeen Area Epidemiology Program Rapid City, South Dakota Indian Health Service, Portland Area, Research and Evaluation Branch Seattle, Washington

Address correspondence to Indian Health Service Diabetes Program, 2401 12th Street NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102.

Diabetes Care 1993 Jan; 16(1): 271-276. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.16.1.271

Abstract

Objective— To estimate the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives served by the IHS.

Research Design and Methods— This was a cross-sectional study of the 1987 IHS national outpatient data base.

Results— Prevalence rates of diagnosed diabetes determined from the IHS outpatient data base were consistent with recent studies of diabetes in different IHS areas. IHS-wide, age-adjusted prevalence was 69/100,000, or 2.8 times the U.S. rate. There was considerable variation in prevalence rates of diabetes throughout the country, with rates ranging from 15.3/100,000 in Alaska to 119.2/100,000 in southern Arizona.

Conclusions— This study documented the high prevalence of diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives and the wide variation in rates between different tribal groups. This study also demonstrated the feasibility of using an outpatient data base to estimate rates of disease that have uniform methods of diagnosis and result in frequent clinic visits.