New findings released online in the journal JAMA unveiled how prevalent diabetes is across various major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. The study was conducted by a team of researchers associated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the findings, the study was initiated between 2011 to 2016 and involved 7,575 adult participants. The aim of the study, researchers stated, was to “estimate racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of diabetes among US adults 20 years or older by major race/ethnicity groups and selected Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian subpopulations.”
The participants were recruited as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, which focused on adults of both genders, aged 20 and over, with a history of diabetes.
The racial and ethnic groups, as highlighted in the findings, included: non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic and Hispanic subgroups (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban/Dominican, Central American, and South American), non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic Asian subgroups (East, South, and Southeast Asian), and non-Hispanic others.
The findings showed the prevalence of the participants with diabetes, diagnosed and undiagnosed, to be the following: 22% Hispanic, 20% non-Hispanic black, 19% non-Hispanic Asian, and 12% non-Hispanic white.
From the findings: “To date, there have been no national estimates of diabetes and prediabetes prevalences among Hispanic or non-Hispanic Asian subgroups. The lack of nationally representative and current estimates of diabetes and prediabetes among the Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian populations has been a gap in national surveillance.”
“In this nationally representative survey of US adults from 2011 to 2016, the prevalence of diabetes and undiagnosed diabetes varied by race/ethnicity and among subgroups identified within the Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian populations,” the findings explained.
“There was considerable heterogeneity in diabetes prevalence among Hispanic subgroups and among non-Hispanic Asian subgroups. Among adults with undiagnosed diabetes, a high proportion were identified using the 2hPG test.”
