Aging, Diabetes, and the Public Health System in the United States.

DIABETES complications; MORTALITY; HOSPITAL care; PUBLIC health surveillance; PUBLIC health administration; UNITED States politics & government; SURVEYS; AGING; BLOOD sugar; CENTERS for Disease Control & Prevention (U.S.); DIABETES; FORECASTING; GLYCOSYLATED hemoglobin; LIFE expectancy; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL care costs; MEDICAL protocols; PREVENTIVE health services; COMORBIDITY; SECONDARY analysis; DISEASE incidence; DISEASE prevalence; DISEASE exacerbation; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; OLD age; ECONOMICS

Diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed) affects 10.9 million US adults aged 65 years and older. Almost 8 in 10 have some form of dysglycemia, according to tests for fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1c. Among this age group, diagnosed diabetes is projected to reach 26.7 million by 2050, or 55% of all diabetes cases. In 2007, older adults accounted for $64.8 billion (56%) of direct diabetes medical costs, $41.1 billion for institutional care alone. Complications, comorbid conditions, and geriatric syndromes affect diabetes care, and medical guidelines for treating older adults with diabetes are limited. Broad public health programs help, but effective, targeted interventions and expanded surveillance and research and better policies are needed to address the rapidly growing diabetes burden among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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