Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in adults by diabetes type – United States, 2016
Open accessAbstract
Currently 23 million U.S. adults have been diagnosed with diabetes (1). The two most common forms of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes results from the autoimmune destruction of the pancreas's beta cells, which produce insulin. Persons with type 1 diabetes require insulin for survival; insulin may be given as a daily shot or continuously with an insulin pump (2). Type 2 diabetes is mainly caused by a combination of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency (3). A small proportion of diabetes cases might be types other than type 1 or type 2, such as maturity-onset diabetes of the young or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (3). Although the majority of prevalent cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are in adults, national data on the prevalence of type 1 and type 2 in the U.S. adult population are sparse, in part because of the previous difficulty in classifying diabetes by type in surveys (2,4,5). In 2016, supplemental questions to help distinguish diabetes type were added to the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (6). This study used NHIS data from 2016 to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults by primary type. Overall, based on self-reported type and current insulin use, 0.55% of U.S. adults had diagnosed type 1 diabetes, representing 1.3 million adults; 8.6% had diagnosed type 2 diabetes, representing 21.0 million adults. Of all diagnosed cases, 5.8% were type 1 diabetes, and 90.9% were type 2 diabetes; the remaining 3.3% of cases were other types of diabetes. Understanding the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes by type is important for monitoring trends, planning public health responses, assessing the burden of disease for education and management programs, and prioritizing national plans for future type-specific health services.
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In the USA, self-reported type 1 diabetes mellitus prevalence among those aged ≥65 years was 0.65% (95% CI 0.48-0.88) in 2016.
“A study using 2016 USA National Health Interview Survey (self-reported) data reported a prevalence of 0.65% (95% CI 0.48–0.88) for self-reported T1DM among those aged ≥65 years32 compared with 0.45% (95% CI 0.27–0.75) among those aged 18–29 years.”
From The epidemiology of type 1 diabetes mellitus in older adults (2025) · cites this paper as [32]
Due in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population over 65 years of age is growing.
“Due in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population of these people over 65 years of age is growing (121-123).”
From 13. Older Adults: <i>Standards of Care in Diabetes—2024</i> (2024) · cites this paper as [123]
The paper’s Discussion reports a 2016 estimate of adults with type 1 diabetes and says it is unknown whether a reported prevalence trend differs for type 1 diabetes. Its age-group results are cross-sectional. Our copy does not establish that modern management has extended survival or that the population with type 1 diabetes aged 65 or older is growing (searched: survival, older adults, age 65, and population trends). (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredDue in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population of these people over 65 years of age is growing.
“Due in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population of these people over 65 years of age is growing (136-138).”
From 13. Older Adults: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2025 (2025) · cites this paper as [138]
The 2016 prevalence table reports type 1 diabetes among adults aged ≥65, but provides no trend showing that this population is growing. The Discussion says it is not known whether a reported overall diabetes-prevalence trend differs for type 1 diabetes. Searches for longer survival and modern management found no passage linking either to growth in the older population. (LLM, conf=0.75)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredDue in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population of people over 65 years with type 1 diabetes is growing.
“Due in part to the success of modern diabetes management, people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, and the population of people over 65 years with type 1 diabetes is growing (154–156).”
From 13. Older Adults: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026 (2026) · cites this paper as [156]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says it is not known whether the reported prevalence trend differs for type 1 diabetes. The paper estimates prevalence from a single 2016 survey; its age-group results do not establish that people with type 1 diabetes are living longer, that their population over 65 is growing, or that modern management caused either change. Searched for survival, longevity, management, and older-adult trends. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Cites
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- Authors
- Bullard, K. M., Cowie, C. C., Lessem, S. E., Saydah, S. H., Menke, A., Geiss, L. S., Orchard, T. J., Rolka, D. B., & Imperatore, G.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bullard, Kai McKeever
- ORCID
- Venue
- MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
- Published
- 2018-03-30
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 359-361
- ISSN
- 0149-2195 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-861X
- PMC
- PMC5877361
- OpenAlex
- W2795064071
- Cited by
- 512
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 105 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 95 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 15
- FWCI
- 44.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- University of Pittsburgh
- National Institutes of Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Diabetes and associated disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes, Cardiovascular Risks, and Lipoproteins
- Keywords
- diabetes prevalence, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diagnosed diabetes, adults, insulin use, National Health Interview Survey, diabetes classification, United States
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, United States, Prevalence, Young Adult
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