Americans In Poor Communities Are 80 Percent More Likely To Be Hospitalized For Diabetes

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 06 Sep 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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People who live in nation's poorest communities are 80 percent more likely to be hospitalized for the treatment of diabetes or its complications than people who live in more affluent areas, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Poor communities are defined as having an average income of under $37,000 and affluent communities have an average income of $61,000 or more.

AHRQ found that in 2005:

-- There were nearly 2,800 diabetes-related hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the poorest communities compared with 1,561 hospitalizations per 100,000 people from more affluent communities.

-- Admissions for patients with diabetes increased by 85 percent (3.5 million to 6.5 million) between 1993 to 2005. These admissions accounted for 17 percent of all hospital cases in 2005.

-- Some 10,000 per 100,000 patients 65 and older with diabetes were hospitalized. This rate is about five times the national average (2,200 hospitalizations per 100,000).

-- At 1,585 per 100,000 people, the diabetes hospitalization rate in the West was nearly 40 percent lower than the rate for all other regions of the country, which averaged 2,200 hospitalizations per 100,000.

This AHRQ News and Numbers summary is based on data in HCUP Facts and Figures, which provides highlights of the latest data from AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project on a range of hospital inpatient care subjects, including leading reasons for hospitalization, such as childbirth, diabetes, and heart conditions; weight-loss, cardiac and other surgical procedures; and hospital costs.

http://www.ahrq.gov