What’s New
Click here to access our 2009 Alberta Diabetes Atlas, released on November 12, 2009. The Atlas contains information on the number of people living with diabetes in Alberta, their related health conditions, and the health services they use. New sections include: health care utilization costs of diabetes to the health system, as well as epidemiological trends for children and adolescents.
Click here to view our latest newsletter entitled ‘Health Care Costs for Children and Adults with Diabetes by Alberta Health Zone ’. In it, we have profiled health care costs for people with diabetes across Alberta's five health zones.
The Public Health Agency of Canada recently announced that the ADSS team will receive a second year of funding to continue its active dissemination efforts. The ADSS team's activities include providing primary care network visits, community specific data for evaluation and planning, and continued development of its interactive website, which will launch later this year.
We have recently created a figure that highlights diabetes prevalence in different Alberta communities. It’s interesting to note the Alberta communities with the highest and lowest prevalence. Click here to see more.
Diabetes Prevalence by Communities
in Alberta
Diabetes prevalence varies from community to community in Alberta. In order to summarize this information, all of the communities in Alberta with a population of at least 1000 were profiled in terms of their diabetes prevalence. The communities at the top of the figure have the highest prevalence and the communities at the bottom of the figure have the lowest. The vertical line in the middle of the figure represents Alberta’s age-adjusted diabetes prevalence (4.6%) – therefore, values to the right of this line are higher than the provincial average, and values to the left of this line are lower.
To be able to compare diabetes prevalence from community to community, age must be taken into consideration. Older populations tend to have increased rates of diabetes, therefore by age-adjusting the prevalence rates, we are able to directly compare communities to each other without age being a factor.
We have chosen to highlight other factors for the Alberta communities that have the highest and lowest diabetes prevalence in the accompanying table.
Top Five Communities (Highest Prevalence)
| Community Name | Age-Adjusted Rate | Cases | Mean Age in Community | Median Age in Community | Location in Alberta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siksika | 15.1% | 210 | 27 years | 22 years | 1 hour east of Calgary |
| Brocket | 14.9% | 137 | 31 years | 28 years | Southwest Alberta between Pincher Creek and Fort Macleod. About 80 KM West of Lethbridge. |
| Saddle Lake | 13.2% | 184 | 25 years | 20 years | 200 KM Northeast of Edmonton |
| Stand Off | 12.5% | 227 | 27 years | 24 years | 80 KM South West of Lethbridge (Southwest Alberta) |
| Hobbema | 12.5% | 470 | 23 years | 19 years | 100 KM South of Edmonton |
Bottom Five Communities (Lowest Prevalence)
| Community Name | Age-Adjusted Rate | Cases | Mean Age in Community | Median Age in Community | Location in Alberta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canmore | 2.8% | 328 | 37 years | 37 years | 100 KM West of Calgary |
| Banff | 2.4% | 131 |
36 years | 34 years | 130 KM West of Calgary |
| Millarville | 2.2% | 33 | 40 years | 44 years | 50 KM Southwest of Calgary |
| Bragg Creek | 2.0% | 65 | 38 years | 43 years | 50 KM Southwest of Calgary |
| Priddis | 1.9% | 46 | 44 years | 49 years | 40 KM Southwest of Calgary |