Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians/Alaskan Natives--United States, 1996.

Since the early 1960s, diabetes has disproportionately affected American Indians/Alaskan Natives (Als/ANs) compared with other populations. Diabetes is a major cause of morbidity (such as blindness, kidney failure, lower-extremity amputation, and cardiovascular disease) and premature mortality in this population. To update information about the prevalence of diabetes among Als/ANs, data were analyzed from the Indian Health Service (IHS) national outpatient database for 1996 and were compared with the prevalence of diabetes among non-Hispanic whites in the United States. This report presents the findings of this analysis, which indicate that the prevalence of diabetes among Als/ANs remains high and is approximately three times the prevalence among non-Hispanic whites.