Diabetes among young American Indians--Montana and Wyoming, 2000-2002.
Type 2 diabetes is increasing among young American Indians (AIs) and other populations, and accurate surveillance is important to monitor trends in diabetes prevalence. The Indian Health Service (IHS) patient database has been used to identify cases of diabetes and estimate diabetes prevalence among AIs aged > or =15 years. However, limited studies have assessed the use of health databases to ascertain diabetes cases in young persons. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (MDPHHS), in collaboration with the Billings Area IHS, conducted a study to assess use of the IHS patient database to identify AIs aged <20 years with diabetes in Montana and Wyoming. This report summarizes the results of that study, which found that diabetes cases were identified more accurately by using at least two patient visits for diabetes rather than only one patient visit. To reduce misclassification of diabetes, health-care systems and managed care organizations that use patient databases for diabetes surveillance should evaluate the accuracy of case ascertainment periodically and ensure adequate training for staff responsible for coding health-care visits and database entry.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009009:Montana / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D014959:Wyoming / Q000453:epidemiology