Diabetes death rate higher for poor

TORONTO, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Mortality from diabetes has declined in Canada, but the income-related mortality gap is increasing, researchers found.

Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe of Women's College Hospital in Toronto and colleagues said lower income groups with diabetes fare worse than higher income groups.

The researchers looked at data from Ontario from 1995-2006 and found the number of Ontarians age 30 years or older with diabetes rose 130 percent while the non-diabetes population in Ontario rose 17 percent over the same period. Death rates were significantly higher in men than in women and in people age 65 and older compared with younger people.

In people ages 30-64, there was a more than 40 percent widening in the rate ratio between the poorest versus the richest group.

"Our findings suggest that improvements in diabetes outcomes may be lagging in the poorer segments of the diabetic population," Lipscombe said in a statement.

Increasing costs of medications may be limiting access and compromising care for people who cannot afford medications in those under the age of 65, the researchers said.

In addition, lower health literacy in poorer patients may also hinder their ability to follow complicated medical routines, Lipscombe said.

The findings are published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.