Blacks, Hispanics prone to diabetes complications

Blacks and Hispanics with Diabetes are more likely than whites to require repeat hospitalization for complications related to their condition, according to a new report.

"The data don't tell you whether the poor outcomes result from lack of access to care or poor quality of care," Dr. H. Joanna Jiang from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland told Reuters Health. "However, the results do alert us of the need for improved coordination between hospitals and community physicians for Diabetes care."

Jiang and her colleagues used hospital discharge data from five states to examine racial and ethnic differences in hospital re-admissions for Diabetes-related conditions.

At the initial admission, blacks had the highest rates of acute complications and high blood pressure, Hispanics had the highest rate for kidney disease, and whites had the highest percentages of Heart disease and Depression.

Rates of re-admission within 180 days were highest among Hispanics, the team reports in the American Journal of Public Health, while blacks had higher re-admission rates than whites among patients who were Medicare beneficiaries.

Hispanics had a significantly higher risk of re-admission than whites only among those from lower-income communities, the researchers note.

"Future studies and efforts should focus on those cultural (including diet, health beliefs), economic, and community factors that may contribute to the observed racial and ethnic disparities in Diabetes outcomes." Jiang said.

"Efforts to reduce potentially preventable hospitalizations for Diabetes should address not only the general diabetic population, but also, and more specifically, those who already have been hospitalized at least once," she added. "These patients may be good candidates for more intensive treatment and disease management."

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health, September 2005.