title: Increasing rates of diabetes amongst status Aboriginal youth in Alberta, Canada.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To track and compare trends in diabetes rates from 1995 to 2007 for Status Aboriginal and general population youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal observational research study (quantitative) using provincial administrative data.
  
  
  METHODS
  De-identified data was obtained from Alberta Health and Wellness administrative databases for Status Aboriginal (First Nations and Inuit people with Treaty status) and general population youth (<20 years). Diabetes cases were identified using the National Diabetes Surveillance System algorithm. Crude annual diabetes prevalence and incidence rates were calculated. The likelihood of being a prevalent case and incident case of diabetes for the 2 populations was compared for the year 2007. Average Annual Percent Changes (AAPC) in prevalence and incidence from 1995 to 2007 were determined and compared between the 2 groups to examine trends over time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While the prevalence of diabetes was higher in the general population in 1995, by 2007 there were no between group differences, reflected in the significantly higher AAPC of 6.98 for Status Aboriginal youth. Status Aboriginal males had a lower diabetes risk in 1995 compared with females, and experienced a greater increase in prevalence over the 13 years (AAPC 9.18) so that by 2007 their rates were equivalent to those of the females. Differences in diabetes incidence trends were only observed among male youth, where increases in incidence were greater for Status Aboriginal (AAPC 11.65) compared to general population males (AAPC 4.62) (p = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Youth-onset diabetes is an increasing problem in Alberta, especially among young Status Aboriginal males.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Richard T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Oster
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Stephanie U
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Balko
authors.forename: Larry W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Svenson
authors.forename: Ellen L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Toth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000416:Alberta / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult