Diabetes

Approximately 20 million Americans have diabetes and almost a third of them do not know they have it.1 An additional 14.7 million people are pre-diabetic and at increased risk of developing the disease.1 In the United States, diabetes is the leading cause of non-traumatic amputations, blindness among working-aged adults and end-stage renal disease, and it is the sixth leading cause of death.2,3 Two of the Healthy People 2010 objectives are to reduce the rate of clinically diagnosed diabetes to 25 per 1,000 population and to reduce diabetes-related deaths to 45/100,000.2 Reducing risk factors for diabetes (obesity, sedentary lifestyle) and improving diabetes management are important for reaching these goals and for increasing the quality and years of healthy life for all Tennesseans. • In 2005, 9.1 % of adults in Tennessee reported having been told by a health care provider that they have diabetes, compared to 7.3 % for the United States.4 Among all 50 states, the percentage of diabetic adults ranged from 4.4 % in Alaska to 10.4 % in West Virginia.4 Compared to other states, Tennessee had the 6th highest percentage of diabetic adults. • The percentage of Tennessee adults with diabetes almost doubled between 1996 and 2005, from 5.0 % to 9.1%. • The prevalence of diabetes was highest among black females (13.2%), followed by white males (9.0%), white females (8.8%) and black males (8.4%). • The prevalence of diabetes increased with increasing age, from 0.8 % in 18 to 24 year olds to 19.0 % in those 65 years and older. • Age at diagnosis with diabetes ranged from 6 to 87 years, with a mean of 49 years. • 17.2 % of diabetic adults were diagnosed within the past year, and 44.0 % were diagnosed within the past 5 years. BRFS