Diabetes

Indicator Definition 
Percent of adults (ages 18–64 years, excluding pregnant women) who have ever been told by a doctor that they have diabetes.

Adults with diabetes in Colorado5

Adults with diabetes by income in Colorado6

Indicator Significance
An estimated 20.8 million people in the United States report having been diagnosed with diabetes, with an estimated 6 million more not yet diagnosed. Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death, carrying with it a long list of potential health complications including obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, blindness and damage to the central nervous system. Every hour, eight diabetics will have a foot, ankle or leg amputated because of untreated complications of diabetes, and every day 45 diabetics will become blind. Many racial, ethnic and age groups are at elevated risk of developing diabetes, including blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders. As people age they are also at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.¹

Colorado Specifics
Colorado has the lowest rate of diabetes in the country, with roughly 4 percent of working-age adults diagnosed with the disease. This statistic, however, can be misleading because an estimated 98,000 Coloradans of all ages have the disease but have not yet been diagnosed. The recent trend among adults in Colorado remained relatively stable between 2000 - 2007. Adults who report an annual income of $50,000 or more have lower rates of diabetes than adults with lower incomes. The relatively low incidence of diabetes in Colorado is reflective of the relatively low rate of adult obesity, as the two are closely linked.²

Promising Initiatives
In Colorado
The Center for African American Health is focused on improving the health and well-being of African Americans in metro Denver. The Center seeks to reduce significant health disparities, including diabetes and high blood pressure, which disproportionately affect blacks. Community-based health education, participatory research, and outreach programs that promote active and healthy lifestyles comprise the heart of the center’s activities.³ 

Elsewhere
DIRECT (Diabetes Intervention Reaching and Educating Communities Together) is the largest community-based initiative focused on diabetes prevention and management in the country. It is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based in Raleigh, NC, DIRECT targets high-risk black adults. Through health promotion, outreach and diabetic care, the program uses community leaders and organizations to develop specific interventions and policies to implement them.⁴ 

Adults with diabetes⁷

Text

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “National Diabetes Fact Sheet”; 2003.
   
2. Colorado Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.
   
3. Center for African American Health.
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Diabetes Projects: Project DIRECT”; July 12, 2007.
   

Charts

5. Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000–2007.
   
6. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
7. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.