1521-P: State-Level Trends in Lower Extremity Amputations among U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes, 2000-2017

Non-traumatic lower extremity amputations (NLEA) are an important complication of diabetes. After a period of decline, some national U.S. data show that rates of diabetes-related NLEA have recently increased. Whether this varies by state is unknown. We used 100% Medicare claims for beneficiaries enrolled in Parts A and B during 2000-2017 to examine state-specific NLEA trends among adults ≥67 years with diabetes. NLEA was defined as the highest-level amputation per patient per calendar year. All rates were age-sex standardized to the 2000 study population. Trends were assessed using Joinpoint regression. National diabetes-related NLEA rates (per 1,000 persons) decreased from 8.5 in 2000 to 4.4 in 2009 (APC - 7.9, p Disclosure L.J. Andes: None. J. Harding: None. D.B. Rolka: None. G. Imperatore: None. Y. Li: None. E.W. Gregg: None. A.L. Albright: None.