A State-By-State Statistical Look at Diabetes: Where in the United States is diabetes most prevalent? According to a BioMed Central publication released in late September the greatest incidence of diabetes is found in the southeast.
The report states, “We estimated undiagnosed diabetes prevalence as a function of a set of health system and sociodemographic variables using a logistic regression in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2006). We applied this relationship to identical variables from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2003-2007) to estimate state-level prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes by age group and sex.”
Highlights of the report suggest, “Age-standardized diabetes prevalence was highest in Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Texas, South Carolina, Alabama, and Georgia (15.8 to 16.6% for men and 12.4 to 14.8% for women). Vermont, Minnesota, Montana, and Colorado had the lowest prevalence (11.0 to 12.2% for men and 7.3 to 8.4% for women). Men in all states had higher diabetes prevalence than women. The absolute prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes, as a percent of total population, was highest in New Mexico, Texas, Florida, and California (3.5 to 3.7 percentage points) and lowest in Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Alaska, Vermont, Utah, Washington, and Hawaii (2.1 to 3 percentage points). Among those with no established diabetes diagnosis, being obese, being Hispanic, not having insurance and being ? 60 years old were significantly associated with a higher risk of having undiagnosed diabetes.”
What follows is a state by state listing of citizen percentages for diabetes combining both men and women averages.
State 30-59 60+
Alabama 10.1% 25%
Alaska 6% 21.8%
Arizona 8.4% 22.1%
Arkansas 9.1% 21.4%
California 8.3% 25%
Colorado 5.7% 18.9%
Connecticut 6.5% 20.6%
Delaware 8.3% 23.1%
District of Columbia 8.1% 26.3%
Florida 9% 23.1%
Georgia 9.2% 26.5%
Hawaii 7.6% 20.8%
Idaho 7.7% 21.7%
Illinois 8.6% 23.8%
Indiana 8.4% 24.8%
Iowa 6.9% 22.1%
Kansas 7.3% 21.7%
Kentucky 9.8% 24.7%
Louisiana 10% 26.6%
Maine 7.6% 22.2%
Maryland 7.7% 24.7%
Massachusetts 6.4% 20.5%
Michigan 8.7% 25.1%
Minnesota 5.9% 20.1%
Mississippi 11.4% 27.7%
Missouri 7.7% 22.9%
Montana 6.5% 19.3%
Nebraska 7.3% 22.4%
Nevada 7.5% 23.3%
New Hampshire 6.5% 22.2%
New Jersey 7.9% 23.9%
New Mexico 8.4% 22.3%
New York 8.5% 23.9%
North Carolina 9.3% 25.6%
North Dakota 6.5% 21.7%
Ohio 8.3% 24.6%
Oklahoma 9.7% 24.1%
Oregon 7.1% 21.1%
Pennsylvania 8.1% 24.1%
Rhode Island 7% 22.7%
South Carolina 10% 26%
South Dakota 7% 21.5%
Tennessee 10.5% 26.3%
Texas 10.1% 25.4%
Utah 6.3% 22.7%
Vermont 6.1% 19.9%
Virginia 7.7% 23.6%
Washington 7.4% 21.3%
West Virginia 11.1% 27.3%
Wisconsin 6.3% 21.6%
Wyoming 7.3% 21.2%
The highest rate of statistically undiagnosed diabetes is in New Mexico. This information is essentially hard data provided for statistical comparisons. It is not intended to be either positive or negative. The basis for articles like this is to paint the most accurate picture possible for this disease.
This report used a series of questions answered by respondents as a means of determining the number of individuals who may be undiagnosed as diabetic. This included whether they had health insurance, whether they visited their primary care physician in the last year or whether they smoke. The questions also included weight, race and age questions relevant to the analysis. This information allowed researchers to make an informed analysis for undiagnosed diabetes.
Data like this can be used in calculating potential health insurance rates and also may provide clues as to regional habits that may impact the incidence of diabetes. The BioMed Central publication adds, “Increasing the coverage of lifestyle, e.g., physical activity and pharmacological interventions for diabetes, should be a priority in states with high diabetes prevalence.”