Socioeconomic status and diagnosed diabetes incidence.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and incidence of diabetes.


METHODS
We investigated three measures of SES and incidence of diagnosed diabetes among women and men in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Followup Study, 1971-1992, who were free of diagnosed diabetes in 1980.


RESULTS
Among women, diabetes incidence was inversely associated with income (measured as percent of the poverty level), education, and occupational status, adjusting for age and race/ethnicity. The hazard ratio (HR) for women with > 16 years education was 0.26 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.13-0.54) relative to those with < 9 years of education. Adjustment for potential mediators, including body size variables, diet, physical activity, and alcohol and tobacco use, substantially attenuated the associations with income and education. Among men a trend toward lower diabetes incidence with higher income and higher education was evident (the HR for men with household income > 5 times the poverty level was 0.44 (95% CI 0.19-0.98) relative to those under the poverty line), but there was no inverse association of diabetes incidence with occupational status.


CONCLUSIONS
SES, assessed with any of three common measures, is a risk factor for diagnosed diabetes in women. Among men these associations are less consistent.
Robbins
Jessica M
JM
Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Center for Urban Health Policy and Research, Philadelphia, PA, USA. jessica.robbins@phila.gov
Vaccarino
Viola
V
Zhang
Heping
H
Kasl
Stanislav V
SV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class