Burden of Early-Onset T2DM Increasing in Teens, Young Adults

FRIDAY, Dec. 9, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Early-onset type 2 diabetes is an increasing global health problem for adolescents and young adults, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in The BMJ.

Jinchi Xie, M.D., from Harbin Medical University in China, and colleagues conducted a systematic analysis using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 involving participants aged 15 to 39 years from 204 countries and territories to estimate the global burden of type 2 diabetes from 1990 to 2019.

The researchers found that from 1990 to 2019, adolescents and young adults globally had significant increases in the age-standardized incidence rate (from 117.22 to 183.36 per 100,000 population) and the age-standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rate (from 106.34 to 149.61 per 100,000 population). There was a modest increase seen in the age-standardized mortality rate from 0.74 to 0.77 per 100,000 population. Countries with a low-middle and middle sociodemographic index had the highest age-standardized incidence rate and DALY rate in 2019, while countries with a low sociodemographic index had the lowest age-standardized incidence rate but highest mortality rate. In general, women had higher mortality and DALY rates than men at ages younger than 30 years. In all regions, the main attributable risk factor for DALY for early-onset type 2 diabetes was high body mass index; across regions, the proportional contribution of other risk factors varied.

"The variable attributable risk factors for type 2 diabetes in adolescents and young adults in countries with different levels of socioeconomic development highlight the importance of specific measures to deal with this growing global health problem," the authors write.

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