Women with Diabetes More Likely to be Poor, Undereducated
Women with diabetes are two times as likely to be "poor and undereducated" compared to women without the disease, according to a CDC study published in the current Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The AP/Las Vegas Sun reports that in a random national telephone survey conducted in 2000, CDC researchers found that 28% of women with diabetes had not finished high school, compared to 12% of women without the disease. In addition, 40% of women with diabetes said they had annual incomes of $25,000 or less, compared to 22% of women without the disease (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/21). The findings remained unchanged after adjusting for race or ethnicity, age, marital status, size of household and employment status (MMWR synopsis, 2/22). According to the CDC, the results of the survey suggest that "more educated women make better decisions about their personal health" and that "higher incomes means access to better medical care" (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 2/21).
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