CDC tool identifies diabetes-related health disparities
The CDC expanded the U.S. Diabetes Surveillance System with a new social determinants of health module to help identify under-resourced areas and assess the impact of health disparities on diabetes burden and risk factors.
The expanded U.S. Diabetes Surveillance System now overlays diabetes data with 15 social vulnerability variables. In a press release, the CDC stated the social determinants of health module gives public health professionals and researchers “a more complete look” at factors that influence a person’s ability to successfully manage diabetes and prevent type 2 diabetes in the U.S.
“We know that a range of factors can impact people’s ability to successfully prevent type 2 diabetes and manage diabetes,” Ann Albright, PhD, director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, said in the release. “The impact of poverty, education, geography, access to care and healthy food, transportation, and many other factors continue to have a profound effect on diabetes and other chronic conditions in the U.S. We hope that this new tool helps researchers and public health professionals identify and better align available resources to address the needs of people at risk for or living with diabetes in communities across the country.”
Data are available at the national level to compare counties across states and at the state level to compare counties within a state. The module currently includes data for 2018. In the coming months, data for 2010, 2014 and 2016 will be included, according to CDC.
To create the new module, researchers used data from CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s Geospatial Research, Analysis & Services Program (GRASP) to assign a social vulnerability index to help identify communities with limited resources. Based on census data, the social vulnerability index includes four central themes: socioeconomic status, household composition and disability; minority status and language; and housing type and transportation.
As more data become available, researchers will also include information on food insecurity, access to healthy food, community walkability, air quality, health insurance and other factors, the agency said.
As Healio previously reported, the American Diabetes Association published an updated scientific review this month on social determinants of health, calling such factors “essential intervention targets” to achieve health equity among people with diabetes. The report provides recommendations to enable design and large-scale implementation of effective interventions that target social determinants directly, such as establishing consensus core social determinants of health definitions and metrics and prioritizing a next generation of research that targets social determinants of health.
“Social determinants of health play a significant role in influencing a person’s ability to successfully prevent type 2 diabetes or manage diabetes and prevent dangerous and costly complications,” Leandris Liburd, PhD, director of CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Equity, said in the release. “Adding social variables to our surveillance systems provides valuable context that can help public health officials better plan and understand community needs. This can accelerate and strengthen how we respond to both chronic and infectious diseases, help communities better prepare for emergency events, and reduce health disparities.”
For more information, visit gis.cdc.gov/grasp/diabetes/DiabetesAtlas.html.
Perspective
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This is a significant step taken by the CDC. The addition of social determinants of health data to U.S. diabetes surveillance reflects the growing commitment among public health, research and health care sectors to understand the role of social determinants of health in diabetes. Ultimately, these data must be available for planning, implementation and evaluation of strategies to improve the health of populations with and at risk for diabetes across the U.S.
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