Rapid increase in diabetes incidence among Chinese Canadians between 1996 and 2005

Objective — Examine trends in diabetes incidence among Ontario residents with Chinese and European origins.

Research Design and Methods — Respondents to population-based health surveys in 1996, 2001, 2003, and 2005 who were aged$30 years, who did not have diabetes, and who self-identified as having European (n= 76,285) or Chinese (n= 1,041) origins were followed for diabetes incidence through a validated administrative data–derived diabetes registry.

Results — Age- and sex-standardized diabetes incidence increased from1.3 to 19.6 per 1,000 person-years in the Chinese population and from 7.8 to 10.0 in the European population. Relative to the 1996 European population, the adjusted hazard ratio for diabetes was 4.50 (95% CI 1.89–7.49) for the 2005 Chinese population and 1.22 (1.05–1.39) for the 2005 European population.

Conclusions — Diabetes incidence increased much more rapidly between 1996 and 2005 in the Chinese population than in the European population, independent of age, obesity, and other risk factors.