Incidence of treatment for end-stage renal disease attributed to diabetes mellitus, by race/ethnicity--Colorado, 1982-1989.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the principal known cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (i.e., renal insufficiency requiring kidney dialysis or transplantation for survival) and accounts for one third of all incident cases of treated ESRD in the United States. Rates for initiating diabetes-related ESRD (ESRD-DM) treatment have been characterized for blacks and whites but have not been well characterized for Hispanics. To describe ESRD-DM treatment by race/ethnicity in Colorado for improved program planning for intervention services, the Colorado Diabetes Surveillance Project of the Colorado Department of Health investigated differences in the rates of initiating ESRD-DM treatment for non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and black Colorado residents with diabetes. This report describes trends in the incidence of ESRD-DM treatment by race/ethnicity among persons with diabetes in Colorado from 1982 through 1989.