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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Cynthia M. Pérez, PhD, MS¹, Ana Patricia Ortiz, PhD¹, Carlos J. Romero, MD², Orville Disdier, MS³, Mariely Nieves, BS¹, Karen Pabón, BS¹, and Esther A. Torres, MD². (1) Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Puerto Rico, Graduate School of Public Health, P.O. Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936-5067, 787-758-2525, cperez@rcm.upr.edu, (2) Department of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine, P.O. Box 365067, San Juan, 00936-5067, (3) Puerto Rico Department of Health, PO Box 70184, San Juan, PR 00936

Background: Growing evidence suggests a link between viral hepatitis and diabetes. Studies suggest that Puerto Ricans are burdened with a large prevalence of hepatitis C infection, and that they experience the highest prevalence of diabetes among all states and territories in the US. Objective: To compare the prevalence of diabetes between adults with and without viral hepatitis. Methods: 1,037,633 adults receiving services under the government health insurance with at least one medical claim for ICD-9 codes 250 (diabetes) and 070 (viral hepatitis) during 2002 were studied. Prevalence of diabetes was estimated with 95% confidence among adults with and without viral hepatitis. Logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the prevalence odds ratio (POR) between viral hepatitis and DM adjusting for age and sex. Results: 115,411 adults had diabetes (11.1%; 95% CI=10.95%-11.3%), while 2,509 adults had viral hepatitis (0.24%; 95% CI =0.21%-0.27%). Prevalence of diabetes was slightly larger in females (11.3%) and peaked among those aged 55-64 years (21.4%). However, the prevalence of viral hepatitis was larger in males (0.33%) and peaked among adults aged 45-54 years (0.34%). Diabetes was more prevalent among adults with viral hepatitis (14.5%) than those without viral hepatitis (10.8%). After adjusting for age and sex, adults with viral hepatitis were 1.7 (95% CI: 1.5-1.9) times more likely to have diabetes compared with adults without viral hepatitis. Conclusions: Viral hepatitis was significantly associated with diabetes. Prospective studies are needed to further elucidate the pathogenesis and temporal sequence between viral hepatitis and diabetes.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the prevalence of diabetes and viral hepatitis in an adult population of Puerto Rico
• Assess the association between viral hepatitis and diabetes in an adult population of Puerto Tico

Keywords: Diabetes, Epidemiology

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered