Increasing prevalence of diabetes among the three affiliated tribes

The findings from a 1988 audit of medical records of the Three Affiliated Tribes (the Mandan, Arickara, and Hidatsa) at the Fort Berthold, ND, Indian Reservation were compared with the findings from a 1975 audit. The total population served by the IHS clinic there has remained about the same. However, the number of people diagnosed as having diabetes has increased by > 40%. This increase in known cases is caused largely by an increase in the number of women aged > 40 yr who have diabetes. The actual prevalence of diabetes among people aged > 40 yr has increased very little, presumably because the clinic population has aged somewhat over this period of time.