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New findings released online in the journal JAMA shows how prevalent diabetes is across various major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. The study was conducted by a team of researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the findings, the study was initiated between 2011-2016 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 included were part of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, which focused on adults of both genders, aged 20 and over, with a history of self-reported diagnosed 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 other.
The findings showed the participants with diabetes, diagnosed and undiagnosed, were an estimated 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 explain.
“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.”