Emerging Approaches in Surveillance of Type 1 Diabetes

Surveillance of type 1 diabetes provides an opportunity to address public health needs, inform etiological research, and plan health care services. We present issues in type 1 diabetes surveillance, review previous and current methods, and present new initiatives.

Few diabetes surveillance systems distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Most worldwide efforts have focused on registries and ages < 15 years, resulting in limited information among adults. Recently, surveillance includes use of electronic health information and national health surveys. However, distinguishing by diabetes type remains a challenge. Enhancing and improving surveillance of type 1 diabetes across all age groups could include validating questions for use in national health surveys. In addition, validated algorithms for classifying diabetes type in electronic health records could further improve surveillance efforts and close current gaps in our understanding of the epidemiology of type 1 diabetes.