Half of US Adults Have Diabetes, Hypertension, or Hypercholesterolemia

The report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that 45% of individuals 20 years of age and older have hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or diabetes. Of these, 3% of adults had all three conditions and 13% had two conditions. Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were present in 9% of adults, and 3% of adults had high blood pressure and diabetes.

"These findings indicate that a high percentage of the population have a condition associated with heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States," according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The prevalence of diagnosed or undiagnosed high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, or diabetes varied by ethnicity, with non-Hispanic black individuals more likely than non-Hispanic white and Mexican American individuals to have at least one of these three conditions.

Compared with Mexican Americans, non-Hispanic white individuals were more likely to have only one of these chronic conditions, while non-Hispanic black people were more likely than white individuals and Mexican American individuals, 16.4% vs 12.8% and 12.7%, respectively, to have two comorbid conditions. In total, 4.6% of non-Hispanic black people have hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.

"These results emphasize the need for research to identify the reasons for the race/ethnicity differences and to identify factors that could be modified to mitigate the race/ethnicity differences," according to the researchers.

The data also showed that approximately 8% of adults have undiagnosed hypertension, 3% have undiagnosed diabetes, and another 8% have undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia. In more than 15% of all US adults, one or more of these conditions is undiagnosed. The proportion of undiagnosed hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels, and diabetes was similar across racial/ethnic groups.

Fryar CD, Hirsch R, Eberhardt MS, Yoon SS, Wright JD. Hypertension, high serum total cholesterol, and diabetes: Racial and ethnic prevalence differences in U.S. adults, 1999-2006. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2010.