Public health surveillance with big data: assessing diabetes trends using medico-administrative data

Background The prevalence of diabetes is increasing in European countries. Public health surveillance of diabetes is traditionally conducted using surveys or disease registries. However, these methods are costly and may not be adapted for surveillance at a regional level. Routine medico-administrative data are increasingly accessible and could be used to assess diabetes trends. We estimated diabetes prevalence in one canton of Switzerland, Valais, using discharge data from hospitals, and compared estimates …