title: Diabetes and medical expenditures among non-institutionalized U.S. adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This research presents a comprehensive picture of medical spending associated with diabetes in the United States, accounting for important population characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Household Component (HC) of the 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) was used for this study. Regression analysis was used to compare medical spending between individuals with and without diabetes. The dependent variables of interest were total and out-of-pocket expenditures related to medical care, hospital use, physician office visits, and prescription drug use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study reveals that individuals with diabetes experience significantly greater medical, hospital, physician office, and prescription drug expenditures compared to those without diabetes. Even after controlling for predisposing, enabling, and need factors, adults with diabetes spent $1843 more on total medical expenditures and $353 more on out-of-pocket medical expenditures than those without diabetes. Significant disparities were found in total and out-of-pocket expenditures by age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, and insurance status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comprehensive interventions that focus on education and prevention should target individuals and communities at high-risk for diabetes and its complications. Our findings suggest that programs should focus on older Americans and those with poor health and mental health status.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Center of Migrant Health Policy, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, PR China. Electronic address: huruwei@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ruwei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: lshi2@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Leiyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: gpierre2@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pierre
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Electronic address: jzhu19@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Management, Da-Yeh University, Changhua 51591, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: dclee@mail.dyu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: De-Chih
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000191:economics; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs
keywords: Diabetes medical expenditures; Medical Expenditure Panel Study (MEPS); Vulnerable population