Does diabetes cause excess deaths in African
Americans?
Diabetes was an uncommon cause of death among
African Americans at the turn of the century. By
1994, however, death certificates listed diabetes as
the seventh leading cause of death for African
Americans. For those age 45 years or older, it was
the fifth leading cause of death.14
Death rates (mortality) for people with diabetes
are higher for African Americans than for whites.
Figure 3 shows death rates for whites and African
Americans with diabetes in a national survey of
people first studied in 1971-1975 whose mortality
was confirmed through 1992-1993.15
The overall mortality rate was 20 percent higher for
African American men and 40 percent higher for
African American women, compared with their white
counterparts.