Diabetes and its complications are a
significant cause of morbidity and
mortality in the U.S. The prevalence
of physician-diagnosed diabetes has been
steadily increasing in the U.S. population,
based on national household interview surveys
conducted during the past 40 years. Undiagnosed diabetes and abnormal
glucose tolerance are also considered to
have substantial clinical importance,
but national estimates of their prevalence
have been available from only one survey of
are presentative sample of U.S. adults (Second
National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, 1976–1980 [NHANES II]) and one survey of are presentative sample
of Mexican-Americans in the southw
e s t e rn U.S. (Hispanic Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey [HANES],
1982–1984). Furthermore, new criteria
for defining diabetes based on fasting
plasma glucose have been proposed by an
expert committee of the American Diabetes
Association, and adoption of these criteria
may affect prevalence rates for the
various diabetes diagnostic categories.
The objective of this study is to examine
the prevalence and time trends for diagnosed
and undiagnosed diabetes and other
categories of abnormal glucose values
according to age, sex, and race or ethnic
group in the U.S. population. To define the
diabetes diagnostic groups, both the 1997
criteria of the American Diabetes Association
and the 1980–1985 criteria of the World
Health Organization (WHO) are
used. We present prevalence rates based on
the most recent national surv e y, the Third
National Health and Nutrition Examination
S u rv e y, 1988–1994 (NHANES III), in which
medical history of diabetes and fasting and
postchallenge plasma glucose were obtained
for a national sample of adults, including
non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks,
and Mexican-Americans. These data are
compared with prevalence computed fro m
the NHANES II and Hispanic HANES, in
which similar procedures were used to
ascertain presence of diabetes.