Methods for the National Diabetes Statistics Report

Data collection

The estimates (unless otherwise noted) were derived from various data systems of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Indian Health Service (IHS), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and U.S. Census Bureau and from published research studies. Estimated percentages and total number of people with diabetes and prediabetes were derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), IHS National Data Warehouse (NDW), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), United States Diabetes Surveillance System (USDSS), and U.S. resident population estimates.

Diagnosed diabetes status was determined from self-reported information provided by survey respondents. Undiagnosed diabetes was determined by measured fasting plasma glucose or A1C levels among people without self-reported diagnosed diabetes. Numbers and rates for acute and long-term complications of diabetes were derived from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and National Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), as well as NHIS.

For some measures, estimates were not available for certain racial and ethnic subgroups due to small sample sizes.

Diabetes estimates

An alpha level of 0.05 was used when determining statistically significant differences between groups. Age-adjusted estimates were calculated among adults aged 18 years or older by the direct method to the 2000 U.S. Census standard population, using age groups 18–44, 45–64, and 65 years or older. Most estimates of diabetes in this report do not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, as type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diabetes cases, the data presented here are more likely to be characteristic of type 2 diabetes, except as noted.

More information about the data sources, methods, and references is available in Appendix B: Detailed Methods and Data Sources.