Recent decade saw no change in diabetes prevalence in US adults, study finds

Between 2013 and 2023, there was no change in the prevalence of diabetes among U.S. adults, but glycemic control worsened, according to a research letter published online Feb. 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Kosuke Inoue, M.D., Ph.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues examined trends in the prevalence and control of diabetes among U.S. adults aged 20 years or older between 2013 and 2023 using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

A total of 24,263 adults were included in the unweighted study population; 4,623 had diabetes. The researchers found no significant change in the prevalence of diabetes, from 12.8% in 2013–2014 to 14.1% in 2021–2023. Among adults with a diagnosis of diabetes, mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were stable between 2013–2014 and 2017–2020, but they increased significantly from 2017–2020 to 2021–2023 (7.31 to 7.60%).

Glycemic control rates were also stable between 2013–2014 and 2017–2020 but decreased from 2017–2020 to 2021–2023 (54.3 to 43.5%). Increases in mean HbA1c levels were mainly seen among young adults aged 20 to 44 years (7.43 to 8.51%), and they also had a significant decline in rates of glycemic control (57.4 to 37.1%). Across other age or sex subgroups, there were no similar patterns observed.

“Given the recent stagnation in mortality improvement among young adults with diabetes and the increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes associated with poor glycemic control, public health and policy efforts are needed to improve diabetes control, especially in younger populations,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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