Socioeconomic disparities in diabetes prevalence among the population in Ireland

Gintare Valentelyte; Naomi Holman; Steven James; Nicholas Clarke; Dominika Bhatia; Kathleen Bennett; Jan Sorensen; Edward W Gregg

doi:10.1186/s12889-025-23022-6

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Socioeconomic disparities in diabetes prevalence among the population in Ireland

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Socioeconomic disparities in diabetes prevalence among the population in Ireland

Gintare Valentelyte, Naomi Holman, Steven James, Nicholas Clarke, Dominika Bhatia, Kathleen Bennett, Jan Sorensen and Edward W Gregg

BMC Public Health, Vol.25, pp.1-10

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23022-6

PMCID: PMC12220495

PMID: 40604544

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Abstract

socioeconomic status

inequalities

diabetes prevalence

deprivation

Ireland

Introduction A large variation in diabetes prevalence by socioeconomic status (SES) persists internationally. This study aimed to quantify the prevalence of diabetes by age and SES and explore the current levels of inequality in the prevalence of diabetes in Ireland. Methods Annual cross-sectional self-reported diabetes data from the national population-based Healthy Ireland Survey for 2015–2023 (n = 59,933) were utilised. Highest educational attainment and area-based deprivation were used as SES indicators. Additionally, the differences in diabetes prevalence across population age-groups were reported. Socioeconomic differences and change in inequality over time were quantified using the relative index of inequality (RII). Logistic regression was used to estimate the relative risk (RR) for having self-reported diabetes according to age and SES, adjusted for sex and survey year. Results Diabetes prevalence was highest among individuals aged > 75 years (13.1%) compared to those aged < 40 years (1.0%). Similarly, prevalence was highest among the least educated (8.1%; RR = 2.73; 95% CI = 2.38, 3.13) compared to most educated (1.7%) and individuals living in most deprived areas (6.0%; RR = 2.18; 95% CI = 1.76, 2.70) compared to least deprived areas (2.2%). Additionally, the magnitude of relative inequalities as determined by education level were more than twofold greater than the magnitude of inequalities determined by area-based deprivation. Relative inequalities among individuals with diabetes persisted over the period 2015–2023 among the least educated (RII = 3.9; 95% CI = 3.3,4.6) and individuals living in the most deprived areas (RII = 3.65; 95% CI = 2.4,5.5). A slight increase in relative inequalities among the least educated, and a slight decline in relative inequalities among the most deprived was observed, however, these changes over time were not statistically significant. Conclusion This is the first study to examine the socioeconomic variation of diabetes prevalence at the Irish population level. Significant differences in diabetes prevalence persist. With the ageing Irish population, this study highlights the need to consider potential effects of diabetes across the older populations and the lowest socioeconomic status groups when implementing equity-oriented diabetes prevention and management programmes.

Details

Title: Socioeconomic disparities in diabetes prevalence among the population in Ireland
Authors: Gintare Valentelyte (Corresponding Author) - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Naomi Holman - University College Dublin
Steven James - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Nursing
Nicholas Clarke - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Dominika Bhatia - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Kathleen Bennett - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Jan Sorensen - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Edward W Gregg - Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
Publication details: BMC Public Health, Vol.25, pp.1-10
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-23022-6
ISSN: 1471-2458
PMID: 40604544; PMC12220495
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the Department of Health but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of the Department of Health.
Grant note: This publication has emanated from research conducted with the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland under Grant number [22/RP/10091].
Organisation Unit: School of Health - Nursing
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991153712102621
Output Type: Journal article

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