The prevalence and predictors of diabetes in a private health insurance scheme: An analysis of three million beneficiaries in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND:
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading threat to population health in Saudi Arabia. Addressing NCDs is a priority for health-care transformation, and understanding the current disease prevalence is crucial. The prevalence in other settings is unknown because studies have relied on data from households or public health-care institutions. This study aims to investigate the prevalence and predictors of diabetes in the privately insured population.


MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This retrospective study explored the prevalence and predictors of diabetes in beneficiaries aged 15 years or older who sought medical care in 2022. Data were sourced from the National Platform for Health and Insurance Exchange Services, a unified health insurance claim platform. We used the International Classification of Disease-10 to capture the condition. To identify predictors of diabetes, we employed a backward selection approach for logistic regression.


RESULTS:
Over 3.3 million beneficiaries sought medical care during the study. The population was relatively young aged 26–39 years, (47.5%) and two-thirds of males. The prevalence of diabetes was 11.0% and varied across regions, with the highest in Bahah (18.4%) and the lowest in Jizan (9.5%). Age, gender, nationality, insurance company size, body mass index, region, hypertension, and coronary heart disease were significant predictors of diabetes. Hypertensive patients were over five times more likely to have diabetes than those without hypertension (odds ratio OR = 5.08; 95% confidence interval CI = 5.02–5.24). Saudis were 30% more likely to have diabetes than other nationalities (OR = 1.3; 95% CI = 1.28–1.31).


CONCLUSION:
We found a higher prevalence of diabetes in privately insured beneficiaries than the recent national estimate. This necessitates population health management strategies at all levels (primary, secondary, and tertiary) to mitigate the burden of diabetes in privately insured individuals. This study provides valuable baseline data for the prevalence of diabetes in this population and emphasizes the urgent need for targeted interventions, especially in regions with a higher prevalence.