Preventive care for adults with diabetes has improved substantially in recent decades. We examined trends in the incidence of diabetes-related complications in the United States from 1990 through 2010.

We used data from the National Health Interview Survey, the National Hospital Discharge Survey, the U.S. Renal Data System, and the U.S. National Vital Statistics System to compare the incidences of lower-extremity amputation, end-stage renal disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from hyperglycemic crisis between 1990 and 2010, with age standardized to the U.S. population in the year 2000.

Rates of all five complications declined between 1990 and 2010, with the largest relative declines in acute myocardial infarction (−67.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI], −76.2 to −59.3) and death from hyperglycemic crisis (−64.4%; 95% CI, −68.0 to −60.9), followed by stroke and amputations, which each declined by approximately half (−52.7% and −51.4%, respectively); the smallest decline was in end-stage renal disease (−28.3%; 95% CI, −34.6 to −21.6). The greatest absolute decline was in the number of cases of acute myocardial infarction (95.6 fewer cases per 10,000 persons; 95% CI, 76.6 to 114.6), and the smallest absolute decline was in the number of deaths from hyperglycemic crisis (−2.7; 95% CI, −2.4 to −3.0). Rate reductions were larger among adults with diabetes than among adults without diabetes, leading to a reduction in the relative risk of complications associated with diabetes. When expressed as rates for the overall population, in which a change in prevalence also affects complication rates, there was a decline in rates of acute myocardial infarction and death from hyperglycemic crisis (2.7 and 0.1 fewer cases per 10,000, respectively) but not in rates of amputation, stroke, or end-stage renal disease.

Rates of diabetes-related complications have declined substantially in the past two decades, but a large burden of disease persists because of the continued increase in the prevalence of diabetes. (Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)