(Friday, April 29, HealthDay News) - the medical expenses for children and adolescents with diabetes are six times higher than for other young people in the United States, a new study finds.
Researchers from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined health insurance claims made in 2007 to nearly 50,000 youth aged 19 and younger, including 8,226 with diabetes.
Annual fees for young people with diabetes were $9,061, compared to $1 468 for those without diabetes. Drugs and ambulatory care represented a large part of the additional medical expenses.
The highest medical costs were for young people with diabetes who had need of insulin, which included all those who are suffering from type 1 diabetes and some type 2 diabetics. The annual medical expenses for those receiving insulin were $9,333, compared to $5,683 for young people with diabetes who did not insulin.
Medical expenses for all Americans with diabetes, with most adults are 2.3 times higher than those without diabetes, according to CDC 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet.
The difference of the medical costs of diabetes may be higher among young adults due to the higher of drugs, visits to specialists and medical supplies such as syringes for insulin and glucose testing strips, according to researchers.
They noted that 92% of young diabetics required insulin, compared to 26% of adult patients with diabetes.
The study appears in the may issue of the journal Diabetes Care.
More information
The American Diabetes Association has more on children and diabetes.
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