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i. Disease profile of diabetes in Hong Kong

In recent years, the burden of DM has grown significantly in Hong Kong. In the 2003/04
Population Health Survey (PHS) published by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), 3.8% of
people aged 15 and above reported that they had doctor-diagnosed DM; by 2014/15, a
decade later, this value rose to 5.5%, nearly doubling within 10 years (CHP, 2017). A study by
Quan et al. (2017) also revealed a high average prevalence of prediabetes of
8.9% between 2006 and 2014 amongst all age and sex groups in Hong Kong.
[1]
In addition to the growing burden of DM, CHP identified DM as a major cause of morbidity
and mortality. In 2019, 14,898 inpatient discharges and deaths were related to DM,
accounting for 0.7% of all inpatient discharges and deaths (HealthyHK, 2021). Combined with
the deaths as a direct cause of DM, these figures have resulted in DM being the 10th leading
cause of death in Hong Kong (CHP, 2021b; HealthyHK, 2021). From the early 1980s to 2000,
the age-standardised death rate for DM showed a general increasing trend, but promisingly,
a decreasing trend from 2001 onwards (Figure 4.7). The observed decline in deaths from the
1990s onwards may be explained by more timely and effective pathways of
treatment and management of diagnosed patients (CHP, 2020b).

Figure 4.7
Age-standardised death rate due to diabetes mellitus, 1979–2019

12
Age-standardised death rate (per 100,000 standard population) 8 6 4
10

0 2
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Overall
Male
Female

Source: HealthyHK, 2021

[1] Quan et al (2017) defined prediabetes using ADA 2015 guidelines

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