resources : fact sheets : facts at-a-glance : diabetes in american indians and alaska natives

Fact Sheets

Facts At-a-Glance	print version (PDF - 255 KB)
Diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives	updated June 2008

U.S. AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE POPULATION
3.3 million	Number of American Indians and Alaska Natives in 2007 (according to the U.S. census)
562	Number of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes

DIABETES IN AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES
16.3%	Percent of American Indian and Alaska Native adults who have diagnosed diabetes (compared with 8.7% of non-Hispanic whites)
1,758	Number of American Indian and Alaska Native youth under the age of 19 who have diagnosed diabetes (2005)
68%	Percent increase in diabetes from 1994 to 2004 in American Indian and Alaska Native youth aged 15-19 years
95%	Percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives with diabetes who have type 2 diabetes (as opposed to type 1 diabetes)
30%	Estimated percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives who have pre-diabetes
2.2 times higher	Likelihood of American Indians and Alaska Natives to have diabetes compared with non-Hispanic whites
58%	Increase in diabetes prevalence among American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 20–29 from 1990 to 1998, as compared with 9.1% in the U.S. general population
3 times higher	Death rate due to diabetes for American Indians and Alaska Natives compared with the general U.S. population (2004)
3.5 times higher	Rate of diabetes-related kidney failure in American Indians and Alaska Natives compared with the general U.S. population (2004)
18.5%	Percent reduction in new cases of kidney failure in American Indians and Alaska Natives from 1999 to 2004
3-4 times higher	The risk for developing cardiovascular disease in American Indians and Alaska Natives with diabetes compared with American Indians and Alaska Natives without diabetes
66%	Percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives with cardiovascular disease that had diabetes first

GENERAL DIABETES
15 years	Number of years by which diabetes can shorten a person’s life span
$13,243	Average annual medical care cost for a person with diabetes
$2,560	Average annual medical care cost for a person without diabetes

Congress established the Special Diabetes Program for Indians in 1997 in response to the growing diabetes epidemic among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Since its inception, the Special Diabetes Program for Indians has helped make quality diabetes care practices commonplace in American Indian and Alaska Native health care facilities, resulting in better health outcomes and quality of life for people with diabetes.