Trends in the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus From the 1970s to the 1990s

Abstract
Background— Recent studies indicate that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing in the United States; less is known about trends in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods and Results— Participants free of diabetes mellitus (n=3104; mean age 47 years; 1587 women) from the Framingham Offspring Study who attended a routine examination in the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s were followed up for the 8-year incidence of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes was defined as a fasting plasma glucose ≥7.0 mmol/L or treatment with either insulin or a hypoglycemic agent. Pooled logistic regression was used to compare diabetes incidence across decades for participants between 40 and 55 years of age in each decade. The age-adjusted 8-year incidence rate of diabetes was 2.0%, 3.0%, and 3.7% among women and 2.7%, 3.6%, and 5.8% among men in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, respectively. Compared with the 1970s, the age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for diabetes was 1.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.89 to 2...