Data on Diabetes Mellitus Discussed by Researchers at Ohio State University (Diabetes Mellitus In Privately Insured Autistic Adults In the United States): Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions – Diabetes Mellitus

2023 DEC 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases and Conditions - Diabetes Mellitus. According to news reporting out of Columbus, Ohio, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Diabetes mellitus is a challenging chronic health condition at the forefront of attention of the healthcare system. Important estimates quantifying how diabetes prevalence varies by age are available for the general population, but these estimates are poorly characterized among autistic adults.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Ohio State University, “Improved diabetes prevalence and likelihood estimates are needed to understand the impact of diabetes on this population. We analyzed IBM MarketScan health claims data from 2019 to 2020 to estimate diabetes prevalence among privately insured autistic (N = 54,500) and non-autistic adults (N = 109,000) and estimate autistic adults’ likelihood of diabetes relative to non-autistic adults at 5-year age intervals (e.g. 18-22 to 23-27) when controlling for demographic factors. Diabetes prevalence was 5.15% for autistic adults and 3.07% for non-autistic adults. Autistic adults had a higher likelihood of diabetes than non-autistic adults at most 5-year age intervals, with the greatest difference at ages 23-37 (odds ratio = 2.67; 95% confidence interval = 2.33-3.06). Our findings suggest that autistic adults may be more likely than non-autistic adults to experience diabetes. Thus, development of diabetes support services and programs that accommodate autistic adults’ individualized needs are important for future study to promote optimal diabetes outcomes for this population. Diabetes is a chronic health condition that is challenging to manage. Estimates of how common diabetes is among non-autistic adults are available, but improved estimates for autistic adults are needed. The purpose of this study was to obtain improved diabetes estimates for autistic adults. We analyzed a large private health insurance claims database to estimate how common diabetes was among autistic adults, and how likely autistic adults were to have diabetes compared to non-autistic adults at 5-year age intervals throughout adulthood (e.g. 18-22, 23-27). We found that diabetes was more common among autistic adults than non-autistic adults and that autistic adults were significantly more likely than non-autistic adults to have diabetes throughout most of adulthood. Our findings suggest that autistic adults may be more likely than non-autistic adults to experience diabetes in adulthood.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The development of diabetes support services and programs that accommodate autistic adults’ individual needs are important for future study to promote positive diabetes outcomes for autistic adults.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Diabetes Mellitus In Privately Insured Autistic Adults In the United States. Autism, 2023. Autism can be contacted at: Sage Publications Ltd, 1 Olivers Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP, England.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Daniel Gilmore, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231206421. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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