title: Re-hospitalization after diagnosis of diabetes varies by gender and socioeconomic status in urban African-American and Latino young people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine risk factors for re-hospitalization after diagnosis of diabetes mellitus amongst urban minority children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Families of insulin-treated African-American and Latino patients aged < 18 yr at diagnosis (n = 216) were interviewed about sociodemographics and other characteristics, on average 5.9 yr after diagnosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  About 60% of respondents were re-hospitalized at least once for diabetes-related reasons (n = 128). Half of those questioned had Medicaid or no health insurance at all; 23% fit criteria for a non-autoimmune, type 2 diabetic phenotype. Those who avoided re-hospitalization were more likely to have been seen initially at a tertiary care facility, to have private health insurance, and to be males. They had, on average, 2 yr shorter duration of diabetes at the time of interview. Risk for re-hospitalization was not associated with age at diagnosis, ethnicity, diabetic phenotype, or source of care during the past year. In multivariate analysis, predictors of re-hospitalization were gender [odds ratio (OR) 1.98 for females vs. males (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-3.72)], duration of diabetes [OR = 1.46 per yr (95% CI = 1.36-1.57)], initial ascertainment at a community hospital [OR = 5.44 vs. tertiary care facility (95% CI = 2.61-11.29)] and having Medicaid or no insurance [OR = 2.73 (95% CI = 1.42-5.24)], compared with those with another type of health insurance. There is a high risk of re-hospitalization after the initial diagnosis of diabetes among insulin-treated minority children, particularly the uninsured and those on Medicaid, in part related to duration of disease and where the initial treatment occurred.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Chicago, IL, USA. lipton@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: Rebecca B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Lipton
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Zierold
authors.forename: Melinda L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Drum
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein-Gitelman
authors.forename: Arthur F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Kohrman