Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Spain in 2016 according to the Primary Care Clinical Database (BDCAP)

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide, including in Spain, and this disease has become a major challenge for health care. In Spain, the computerization of medical records in primary care, in the Primary Care Clinical Database (BDCAP), has made possible the diagnoses of diabetes in a representative sample of the nation as a whole. This article analyzes the prevalence of diabetes recorded in this database and compares the data of the different autonomous communities. The prevalence of diabetes in Spain is 6.66% of the total population assigned to primary care in the National Health System, is higher in men than in women (7.27% vs. 6.06%), and increases with age up to 80 years. There are significant differences in the adjusted prevalence of diabetes between autonomous communities, with lower prevalence rates in North and Central Spain and higher rates in the South and East, as well as the islands. The lowest prevalence is seen in Castile and Leon (4.51%), and the highest in the Canary Islands (9.72%).