Diabetes and work: 12-year national follow-up study of the association of diabetes incidence with socioeconomic group, age, gender and country of origin.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the extent and socioeconomic distribution of incident diabetes among the Danish working-age population.


METHODS
The Danish National Diabetes Register was linked with socioeconomic and population-based registers covering the entire population. We analysed the 12-year diabetes incidence using multivariate Poisson regression for 2,086,682 people, adjusting for gender, 10-year age groups, main population groups defined by country of origin, and seven socioeconomic groups: professionals, managers, technicians, workers skilled at basic level, unskilled workers, unemployed and pensioners.


RESULTS
The crude 12-year incidence of diabetes was 5.8%. The saturated multivariate model, adjusted for gender, age, country of origin and socioeconomic status; showed a relative risk (RR) for diabetes incidence of 1.44 for male (reference: female), 3.95 for the age range of 50-59 years (reference: 30-39 years), 2.07 for unskilled workers (reference: professionals) and 2.15 for people from countries of 'non-Western origin' (reference: Danish origin).


CONCLUSIONS
Diabetes incidence increases with age, male gender and low socioeconomic status; and also among people from countries of 'non-Western origin'. The results indicate that getting a more senior workforce will substantially increase the proportion of workers with diabetes, especially among already vulnerable groups.
Department of Patient Education Research, Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte, Denmark kjpo@steno.dk.
Kjeld
K
Poulsen
Department of Patient Education Research, Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte, Denmark.
Bryan
B
Cleal
Department of Patient Education Research, Steno Diabetes Center, Gentofte, Denmark.
Ingrid
I
Willaing
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014937:Work
Age; diabetes incidence; gender; health inequity; labour marketplace; registry; retirement; seniors; socioeconomic factors; survey; workforce