Study: Diabetes incidence may depend on socioeconomic status

TORONTO It seems that women that make less money than their counterparts are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, Canadian researchers found in a new study.

The study, which was conducted over a 14-year period from 1994 to 2008 by Statistics Canada, found that women in low-income groups were more inclined to smoke and eat a poor diet, as well as be overweight. The main findings of the report confirmed the increased risk factor for diabetes among people with low socioeconomic status. The authors also found that out of the 12,333 respondents who were ages 18 years and older, 7.2% of the men and 6.3% of the women went on to develop diabetes or die from the disease just 15 years later.

The findings are derived from the results of the latest release of data from the National Population Health Survey, a longitudinal survey that has tracked the health status of more than 17,000 Canadians since 1994/1995.