Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The prevalence of diabetes in South Korea has drastically increased, and 8.6–11.0% of Korean adults aged ≥30 years were suffering for the disease in the early 2000s, according to the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Objective: The present study was performed to estimate the incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its complications in South Korea using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database from 2010–2015, which covers 96.3% of the claim data of the Korean population.

Methods: T2DM, coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and peripheral artery disease (PAD) were defined as underlying disease and its complications of T2DM. We used the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes provided by HIRA to identify associated procedures or surgeries. A Poisson distribution was assumed when calculating 95% confidence intervals for prevalence and incidence rates.

Results: After age standardization, the prevalence of T2DM in Korean adults aged more than 30 years, was 6.3–7.5% and the annual incidence rates of T2DM ranged from 9.0–11.0/1,000 person-year during the six year. The incidence rates of T2DM in men and women aged more than 30 years significantly decreased from 2013 to 2015 (P≤0.001). On the other hand, the incidence in women aged more than 65 years significantly increased from 2013 to 2015 (P≤0.001). The incidence rates of CAD and CVD with T2DM patients were 21.4 and 13.6/1,000 person-year.

Conclusion: This study estimated the incidences and prevalence of T2DM in most of Korean population which is the great concern for public health. We also confirmed the relatively higher risk of as the complications with the T2DM patients compared to the general population in Korea.