Gender equity in health care: the case of Swedish diabetes care.
To explore the issue of gender equity in diabetes care in Sweden and to develop strategies for monitoring gender equity in health care, population-based studies and statistics published since 1990 were reviewed that contained gender-specific data on health care utilization, glycemic control, patient satisfaction, health-related quality of life, and mortality from diabetes. The review shows that diabetic women in Sweden report more frequent outpatient contacts, less patient satisfaction, and a lower health-related quality of life than diabetic men. No gender differences were found in the level of glycemic control. Young and middle-aged men with diabetes have a high excess all-cause mortality as compared with nondiabetic men. A trend toward stronger social gradient in mortality among women than men with diabetes was observed in a large nationwide study.
Dept. of Public Health Sciences, Division of International Health (IHCAR), Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. pia.maria.jonsson@phs.ki.se
P M
PM
Jonsson
G
G
Sterky
C
C
Gåfvels
J
J
Ostman
D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology