Media Relations UPMC/University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences  

Pennsylvania Diabetes at a Glance

Prevalence of Diabetes

Adults, age 18 and older, diagnosed with diabetes in 2008.

Deaths Among People with Diabetes

In 2007, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in Pennsylvania and the underlying cause of 3,420 deaths.

Hospitalizations and the Costs of Diabetes

• Hospital stays for diabetes increased 24.7 percent between 1997 and 2007.
• In Pennsylvania, the direct and indirect costs of diabetes totaled $8.3 billion in 2004.
• In 2004 alone, the hospitalizations where diabetes was the principal diagnosis accounted for over 131,800 hospital days and incurred $673 million in hospital charges.
• Some 15.4 percent of patients with diabetes were hospitalized two or more times in 2004. Certain populations, including Medicare and Medicaid recipients were more likely to have recurrent hospitalizations.
• In 2004 and 2007, Pennsylvania's total diabetes hospitalization rates were higher than the total national rates.
• In 2008, almost all (96 percent) of diabetes hospitalizations among adults in Pennsylvania were considered potentially preventable, based on the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Prevention Quality Indicators.

Pennsylvania Overweight/Obese Facts

• Almost two-thirds of the Pennsylvania population was either overweight or obese in 2008.
• The percent of obese adults in Pennsylvania was above the national average in 2008.
• Out of all states, Pennsylvania ranks 20th in overall prevalence of overweight or obese children, aged 10 to 17.

Sources:

• Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. A State of Health Care in Pennsylvania Report, June 2010.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2007. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008.
• Pennsylvania Department of Health Diabetes Publications: The Pennsylvania Diabetes Action Plan, 2007.

Contact Person
Amy Dugas Rose
Manager
Telephone: 412-586-9776

Patients and medical
professionals may call
1-800-533-UPMC (8762)
for more information.