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. 2014 Feb;37(2):402-8.
doi: 10.2337/dc13-1838. Epub 2013 Sep 16.

Prevalence of diabetes in U.S. youth in 2009: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study

David J Pettitt  1 , Jennifer Talton, Dana Dabelea, Jasmin Divers, Giuseppina Imperatore, Jean M Lawrence, Angela D Liese, Barbara Linder, Elizabeth J Mayer-Davis, Catherine Pihoker, Sharon H Saydah, Debra A Standiford, Richard F Hamman; SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group
Affiliations

Prevalence of diabetes in U.S. youth in 2009: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study

David J Pettitt et al. Diabetes Care. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of diabetes in U.S. youth aged <20 years in 2009 and to estimate the total number of youth with diabetes in the U.S. by age, race/ethnicity, and diabetes type.

Research design and methods: To address one of its primary aims, the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study identified youth aged <20 years on 31 December 2009 with physician-diagnosed diabetes in selected areas of Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington, among health plan members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California and among American Indians living on reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. Diabetes was classified as type 1, type 2, or other. Race/ethnicity was by self-report.

Results: From a population of 3,458,974 youth aged <20 years, 7,695 youth with diabetes were identified (2.22/1,000): 6,668 with type 1 diabetes (1.93/1,000), 837 with type 2 diabetes (0.24/1,000), and 190 (0.05/1,000) with other diabetes types. Prevalence increased with age, was slightly higher in females than males, and was most prevalent in non-Hispanic White and least prevalent in Asian/Pacific Islanders, with Native American and black youth having the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes. An estimated 191,986 U.S. youth aged <20 years have diabetes; 166,984 type 1 diabetes, 20,262 type 2 diabetes, and 4,740 other types.

Conclusions: Diabetes, one of the leading chronic diseases in childhood, affects >190,000 (1 of 433) youth aged <20 years in the U.S., with racial and ethnic disparities seen in diabetes prevalence, overall and by diabetes type.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion of type 1 and type 2 diabetes among 15–19 year olds in SEARCH by race/ethnicity. Diabetes type other/unknown not included in figure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of diabetes in SEARCH/1,000 by type, age group, and race/ethnicity. Diabetes type other/secondary/unknown not included in figure. Error bars represent 95% CI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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