Data & Trends

Diabetes Surveillance System

1999 Surveillance Report

Chapter 1: The Public Health Burden of Diabetes Mellitus in the United States

Cardiovascular Disease

Major cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among persons with diabetes (19,20). Although death rates with CVD as the underlying cause of death and diabetes as a listed cause of death have declined in the last 16 years, hospital discharges for this disease continue to increase.

In 1996, about 43% of all diabetes-related deaths had CVD listed as the underlying cause of death (n=82,466) (Figure 5.1, Table 5.1). Two subsets of CVD were examined–ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. Of the deaths attributed to CVD, 58% (n=47,903) were caused by IHD, and 15% (n=12,272) were caused by stroke (Figure 5.1, Tables 5.1, 5.8, and 5.15).

Between 1980 and 1996, age-adjusted death rates for CVD declined 33% (from 1311.8 to 873.5 per 100,000 persons with diabetes) (Figure 5.2, Table 5.1). Similarly, age-adjusted death rates for IHD and stroke declined 39% and 43% (Tables 5.8 and 5.15). The decline in death rates from CVD, IHD, and stroke were apparent among persons aged greater than or equal to 45 years, but only IHD rates declined among persons aged <45 years (Figure 5.3, Tables 5.1, 5.8, and 5.15). Among the four race-sex groups examined, white males had the highest CVD and IHD death rates (Figure 5.4, Tables 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.11, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14). Decreases in death rates from CVD, IHD, and stroke were similar among the four race-sex groups (Tables 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.11, 5.12, 5.13. 5.14, and 5.18, 5.19, 5.20, 5.21).

In 1996, CVD was the first-listed discharge diagnosis on about 1,341,000 hospital discharges (Figure 5.5, Table 5.22). In general, age-specific rates of hospital discharge for CVD, IHD, and stroke increased with age (Figure 5.7, Tables 5.22, 5.26, and 5.30), with persons aged greater than or equal to 75 years about 7 times more likely to be hospitalized for CVD in 1996 as persons aged <45 years.

The age-adjusted rates of hospital discharge for CVD, IHD, and stroke increased between 1980 and 1996 (Figure 5.6, Tables 5.22, 5.26, and 5.30). The increase in the age-adjusted rates of hospital discharge for IHD was greater among whites than blacks (Table 5.29).

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This page last reviewed January 18, 2005.

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Division of Diabetes Translation