Global Prevalence of T1D Rising in Older Adults: Daily Dose

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Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

Last week, we reported on findings from a population-based study published in The BMJ that analyzed trends of type 1 diabetes (T1D) among older adults.

The study

Researchers used data from the Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors Study 2019 to estimate the prevalence of and deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) due to T1D in adults 65 years and older from 21 regions and 204 countries. They assessed the data at a global, regional, and national level by age, sex, and sociodemographic index (SDI). The primary outcomes were T1D-related age standardized prevalence, mortality, DALYs, and mean annual percentage change.

The findings

• Global prevalence of adults 65 years and older with T1D increased 180% in the past 30 years, rising from 1.3 million in 1990 to 3.7 million in 2019.

• After age standardization, the global prevalence of T1D for adults 65 years and older still increased 28% over the last 3 decades, rising from 400 per 100 000 population in 1990 to 514 per 100 000 population, with an average annual increase of 0.86% (95% CI 0.79-0.93).

• Mortality rates decreased 25% during the same period, going from 4.74 per 100 000 population in 1990 to 3.54 per 100 000 population in 2019.

• Mortality rates decreased 13-times faster in countries with a high SDI compared to those with a low-middle SDI (−2.17% per year vs −0.16% per year)

Authors' comment

"Our study extended the current understanding of the increasing global burden of T1DM by focusing on trends in older people (≥65 years) with T1DM. Our study also advocates for urgent attention to coping strategies for ageing populations and older people with T1DM, rational allocation of health resources, and the provision of targeted guidelines."

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