The Incidence, Prevalence And Life Expectancy For Prediabetes And Diabetes In Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: The increasing global trend of diabetes and prediabetes necessitates timely estimation of disease burden.

Methods: We obtained patient data on demographics, laboratory readings; attendances (inpatient, outpatient and emergency care) and prescribed medications from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Age-standardized incidence, prevalence and mortality rates were calculated from 2007 to 2017. Rates were adjusted for age and gender using the Hong Kong 2017 mid-year population as the standard population. Abridged life tables were constructed using the Chiang II method to estimate life expectancy. We applied bootstrapping with resampling to derive confidence intervals.

Results: We identified 604,319 people with type 2 diabetes and 944,522 with prediabetes. Age-standardized incidence for diabetes exhibited an overall decreasing trend from 2007 to 2017, falling from 8.34 per 1000 person-years (95% CI: 8.25 to 8.44) to 4.72 per 1000 person-years (95% CI: 4.65 to 4.78). The age-standardized mortality rate for diabetes and prediabetes decreased over the same period. Similar trends were observed for both genders, with females having lower prevalence, incidence and mortality rates compared to males for both diabetes and prediabetes. Life expectancy slightly increased from 2007 to 2017 for people with diabetes.

Conclusions: Decreases in incidence rates and mortality rates for diabetes and prediabetes were observed from 2207 to 2017. Life expectancy for people with type 2 diabetes improved from 2007 to 2017, similar to observed trends in the general population.

Key messages: Despite improvements in mortality rates for people with diabetes, the gap in life expectancy with the general population has not narrowed.