Prevalence of Known Diabetes Among Black Americans

In 1985, approximately 1.0 million black Americans had known diabetes–a rate of 35.9 per 1,000 population. Com­ pared with 22 years ago, these 1985 estimates represent a sub stantial increase in both the number and the rate of black Americans with known diabetes. In 1963, only an estimated 228,000 black individuals had known diabetes, representing a rate of 11.7 known diabetics per 1,000 population. Among black persons, known diabetes is relatively more frequent among older persons, females, the less educated, the formerly married, those living alone, and persons in families with low annual incomes. It is also proportionately more com­ mon among central city residents than among metropolitan area residents living outside a central city. Among black persons, those living in the West have the highest rate of known diabete~ those living in the Northeast, the lowest rate. Some of these sociodemographic variations in the rate of known diabetes among black persons are associated with the fact that certain categories have higher proportions of older persons, who are more likely than younger persons to have known diabetes. Differences in the rate of known diabetes among black indi­ viduals by marital status and living arrangement are largely explainable in these terms. In both absolute and relative terms, the increase in the prevalence of known diabetes over the past 22 years has been greater for black persons than for white persons. From 1963 to 1985, the number of white known diabetics increased by about 2% times, and a twofold increase occurred in the rate for white persons. During that same period, there was a fourfold increase in the number of black persons with known diabetes, and a threefold increase occurred in the rate for black Americans. Known diabetes is now relatively more common among black persons than it is among white persons. However, this overall difference in the relative likelihood of known diabetes was not always the case. From 1963 to 1968, the overall rates of known diabetes among black and white persons were similar. Moreover, during the 1963–68 time period, when the relative frequency of known diabetes for the two racial groups was similar, there were offsetting trends among males and females. Over the 22-year period for which data are available, black females have consistently had higher observed rates of known diabetes than white females have had. From 1963 to 1967, however, black males had lower overall rates than white males had. By 1975 (the second year after 1968 for which data are available) a crossover had occurred The overall observed rate of known diabetes for black males was higher than that for white males. The currently higher rate of known diabetes among black than white persons is pervasive. Across all sex, age, education, marital status, living arrangement, and regional categories and across most family income and location of residence categories of the population, black individuals are relatively more likely to have known diabetes than white persons are. Among black in­ dividuals 17 years of age and over, but not among white in­ dividuals in this age span, family income differences in the relative frequency of known diabetes are explained by educa­ tional attainment differentials that are associated with family income and the relative likelihood of having known diabetes.