[Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Germany 1998-2001. Secondary data analysis of a health insurance sample of the AOK in Hesse/KV in Hesse].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this population-based study was to assess the prevalence of subjects with diabetes mellitus by retrospectively analysing routine health insurance data.


METHODS
This analysis comprised a 18.75% random sample of all members of the largest regional statutory health insurance (Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse, AOK) in Hesse. Patients with diabetes were identified by criteria such as ICD-10 diagnoses and regular prescriptions of insulin and oral antidiabetic agents. The data were corrected for the age and gender distribution of the German population.


RESULTS
Over the 4-year observation period there was a continuous increase in the prevalence of subjects with known diabetes mellitus, from 7.24% in 1998 to 8.79% in 2001. After correction for the German population the last figure corresponded to a prevalence rate of 6.00% in 1998 and 6.91% in 2001. During this period, there was an overproportional increase in the percentage of subjects treated with insulin, from 1.49% in 1998 to 1.91% in 2001, while there was only a moderate increase in the percentage of subjects under oral medication and under dietary treatment, respectively. In the age group of 70 and above roughly 25% of all subjects had known diabetes. In this age group, more than 6% of all people were treated with insulin.


CONCLUSIONS
This data suggests that there was a continuous increase in the prevalence of individuals treated for diabetes between 1998 and 2001 in Germany by approximately 5% per year. After correction for the total German population the pre-valence of diagnosed diabetes is nearly 7%.
Hauner
H
H
Else-Kröner-Fresenius-Zentrum für Ernährungsmedizin, Technischen Universität Munich. hauner@wzw.tum.de
Köster
I
I
von Ferber
L
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin