Table 2. National trends in the prevalence of diabetes and β-coefficients of odds ratios before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (weighted % [95% CI]) based on data obtained from the KNHANES

Year Before the pandemic During the pandemic Trends before the pandemic era, β (95% CI) Trends during the pandemic era, β (95% CI) βdiff between 1998–2019 and 2019–2021 (95% CI)
1998–2005 2007–2009 2010–2012 2013–2015 2016–2019 2020 2021
Overall 5.61 (5.36 to 5.86) 7.37 (6.87 to 7.87) 7.75 (7.25 to 8.24) 8.54 (7.98 to 9.10) 9.34 (8.82 to 9.85) 10.61 (9.50 to 11.72) 11.61 (10.36 to 12.86) 0.084 (0.069 to 0.098) 0.114 (0.046 to 0.181) 0.030 (-0.039 to 0.099)
Age group
30–39 0.86 (0.67 to 1.05) 1.13 (0.76 to 1.50) 1.06 (0.64 to 1.47) 1.01 (0.60 to 1.41) 0.89 (0.54 to 1.24) 1.67 (0.48 to 2.85) 2.00 (0.76 to 3.24) -0.001 (-0.011 to 0.009) 0.056 (-0.008 to 0.119) 0.056 (-0.007 to 0.120)
40–49 3.20 (2.87 to 3.54) 3.84 (3.10 to 4.58) 3.25 (2.50 to 4.00) 3.83 (3.03 to 4.64) 3.68 (2.97 to 4.39) 4.59 (2.90 to 6.27) 5.56 (3.83 to 7.29) 0.008 (-0.012 to 0.028) 0.094 (0.003 to 0.185) 0.086 (-0.008 to 0.179)
50–59 8.48 (7.80 to 9.16) 9.43 (8.22 to 10.63) 9.63 (8.48 to 10.77) 7.75 (6.67 to 8.82) 9.50 (8.52 to 10.47) 11.31 (9.02 to 13.61) 11.36 (8.96 to 13.76) 0.001 (-0.031 to 0.033) 0.093 (-0.037 to 0.224) 0.092 (-0.042 to 0.227)
≥60 13.02 (12.30 to 13.74) 17.40 (16.15 to 18.64) 17.98 (16.86 to 19.10) 20.38 (18.98 to 21.78) 20.07 (19.00 to 21.14) 20.74 (18.74 to 22.73) 21.59 (19.56 to 23.62) 0.156 (0.122 to 0.190) 0.076 (-0.039 to 0.192) -0.079 (-0.200 to 0.041)
Sex
Male 6.00 (5.66 to 6.35) 7.85 (7.10 to 8.59) 8.29 (7.53 to 9.05) 9.29 (8.44 to 10.13) 10.05 (9.33 to 10.77) 11.61 (10.03 to 13.20) 13.67 (11.63 to 15.71) 0.093 (0.072 to 0.113) 0.181 (0.07 5 to 0.288) 0.089 (-0.020 to 0.198)
Female 5.24 (4.90 to 5.57) 6.91 (6.27 to 7.55) 7.23 (6.56 to 7.90) 7.85 (7.14 to 8.55) 8.66 (8.04 to 9.28) 9.62 (8.31 to 10.93) 9.60 (8.20 to 10.99) 0.075 (0.057 to 0.094) 0.047 (-0.031 to 0.124) -0.029 (-0.108 to 0.051)
Region of residence
Urban 5.33 (5.05 to 5.60) 7.22 (6.65 to 7.80) 7.33 (6.78 to 7.88) 8.45 (7.83 to 9.07) 8.64 (8.10 to 9.18) 10.41 (9.19 to 11.63) 10.75 (9.42 to 12.09) 0.075 (0.059 to 0.091) 0.105 (0.034 to 0.177) 0.031 (-0.043 to 0.104)
Rural 6.70 (6.12 to 7.28) 7.93 (6.88 to 8.98) 9.26 (8.14 to 10.39) 8.91 (7.54 to 10.29) 12.95 (11.46 to 14.45) 11.63 (9.38 to 13.87) 15.68 (12.70 to 18.66) 0.135 (0.097 to 0.173) 0.141 (-0.027 to 0.310) 0.006 (-0.167 to 0.179)
Education
High school or lower education 9.18 (8.69 to 9.66) 12.72 (11.73 to 13.72) 14.05 (13.00 to 15.10) 16.12 (14.82 to 17.41) 18.99 (17.84 to 20.14) 21.71 (19.19 to 24.22) 21.81 (19.37 to 24.26) 0.228 (0.198 to 0.259) 0.143 (0.010 to 0.277) -0.085 (-0.222 to 0.052)
College or higher education 3.33 (3.08 to 3.58) 4.37 (3.87 to 4.87) 4.59 (4.09 to 5.09) 5.39 (4.88 to 5.90) 6.10 (5.65 to 6.56) 7.70 (6.56 to 8.84) 8.83 (7.53 to 10.12) 0.065 (0.051 to 0.079) 0.136 (0.068 to 0.204) 0.071 (0.001 to 0.140)
Household income
Lowest and second quartile 7.14 (6.75 to 7.53) 10.57 (9.68 to 11.45) 10.28 (9.53 to 11.03) 12.87 (11.88 to 13.85) 13.43 (12.58 to 14.27) 14.83 (13.08 to 16.58) 16.85 (15.12 to 18.58) 0.146 (0.122 to 0.169) 0.171 (0.074 to 0.268) 0.026 (-0.075 to 0.126)
Third and highest quartile 4.21 (3.93 to 4.49) 5.06 (4.50 to 5.62) 5.67 (5.08 to 6.26) 5.53 (4.96 to 6.11) 6.57 (6.05 to 7.08) 8.14 (6.93 to 9.36) 8.40 (7.04 to 9.76) 0.051 (0.035 to 0.066) 0.091 (0.019 to 0.163) 0.040 (-0.034 to 0.114)
Smoking status
Current and ex-smoker 6.56 (5.85 to 7.27) 7.62 (6.87 to 8.38) 8.52 (7.73 to 9.31) 9.21 (8.28 to 10.13) 10.13 (9.39 to 10.87) 11.24 (9.59 to 12.88) 13.88 (11.86 to 15.89) 0.084 (0.056 to 0.112) 0.188 (0.081 to 0.295) 0.104 (-0.007 to 0.214)
Non-smoker 5.46 (5.19 to 5.72) 7.15 (6.49 to 7.81) 7.07 (6.42 to 7.71) 8.15 (7.49 to 8.81) 8.71 (8.08 to 9.33) 10.10 (8.81 to 11.38) 9.81 (8.32 to 11.30) 0.076 (0.060 to 0.092) 0.054 (-0.027 to 0.136) -0.022 (-0.105 to 0.061)
BMI group
Overweight or obese 7.04 (6.33 to 7.76) 9.18 (8.49 to 9.87) 8.81 (8.17 to 9.46) 10.14 (9.38 to 10.89) 11.39 (10.70 to 12.09) 11.94 (10.43 to 13.46) 13.19 (11.48 to 14.89) 0.087 (0.060 to 0.113) 0.090 (-0.002 to 0.181) 0.003 (-0.092 to 0.098)
Underweight or normal 5.37 (5.10 to 5.64) 4.77 (4.17 to 5.36) 6.23 (5.49 to 6.96) 6.25 (5.54 to 6.96) 6.24 (5.66 to 6.82) 8.29 (6.79 to 9.78) 9.16 (7.47 to 10.85) 0.030 (0.015 to 0.045) 0.146 (0.056 to 0.235) 0.116 (0.025 to 0.207)
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The numbers in bold indicate a significant difference (p<0.05).