Time Trends in the Prevalence of Four Chronic Conditions in Texas: 1999-2008

Objectives: Diabetes (DM), Hypertension (HTN), hyperlipidemia and obesity are the four major chronic conditions that contribute to or rank among the leading causes of death . This study is to examine the time trends in the prevalence of the four conditions in Texas. Methods: Self-reported disease status of DM, HTN, and hyperlipidemia from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 1999-2008 were used. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate the BMI, which was further divided into under/normal weight, overweight and obese, based on the categorization by CDC. Prevalence of HTN and hyperlipidemia are available for only 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Sample size ranged from 4,990 in 1999 to 17,248 in 2007. Preliminary findings: Overall, all four chronic diseases had increasing time trends during 1999-2008. The prevalence of DM increased from 6.23% to 9.71%, HTN from 24.17% to 27.73%, hyperlipidemia from 30.85% to 38.25% and obesity from 21.12% to 28.90%, respectively. For both genders,65 years of age or older had the highest prevalence rates in DM, HTN and hyperlipidemia, whereas the middle age group (45-64) had the highest prevalence in obesity. Female blacks had the highest prevalence of DM, HTN, and obesity in the past 10 years. Conclusion: The findings showed that Texas did not meet Healthy people 2010 objectives. Obesity prevention targeting the middle-age subpopulation is critical in preventing the occurrence of chronic cardiovascular conditions that have the heaviest disease and mortality burdens when the cohort reaches an older age.