Social inequalities in care for the elderly with diabetes in Brazil

Time evolution of advice on healthy habits in Brazilians with hypertension and diabetes: National Health Survey

To evaluate time evolution of receiving advice on healthy habits among Brazilians with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Cross-sectional study with data from the 2013 and 2019 National Health Survey. We used linear regression weighted by least squares of variance to verify time evolution of the outcome estimating the annual percentage change (APC) presented according to sex, skin color, age group, and quintiles of wealth index. The analytical sample in 2013 was 11,129 individuals with hypertension and 3,182 individuals with diabetes, and in 2019 19,107 individuals with hypertension and 6,317 individuals with diabetes. For those with hypertension, there were statistically significant reductions in receiving advice for not smoking (APC: -1.49), not drinking excessive alcoholic beverages (APC: -1.48), ingesting less salt (APC: -0.56), and for all healthy habits (APC: -1.17). For those with diabetes, statistically significant reductions were observed only for not smoking (APC: -1.13) and not drinking excessive alcoholic beverages (APC: -1.11). The results suggest a reduction in all types of advice on healthy habits evaluated for hypertension and diabetes, with greater magnitude among individuals belonging to the richest quintiles.

Decomposing socioeconomic inequality in blood pressure and blood glucose testing: evidence from four districts in Kerala, India

Background

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) constitute a significant danger to the nation’s public health system, both in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as the financial burden they inflict. Kerala is undergoing an epidemiologic transition, which has significantly impacted the state’s morbidity and mortality figures. For decades, the state has been putting in place myriad programs to reduce the burden of NCDs across population groups. Socioeconomic inequalities in NCD testing have been documented in India, although they are understudied in Kerala. The study aimed to estimate and characterize districtwise socioeconomic inequality in Blood Pressure (BP) and Blood Glucose (BG) testing.

Methods

A cross-sectional household survey was conducted between July–October 2019 in Kasaragod, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts of Kerala, India. A total of 6383 participants aged 30 years and above were interviewed using multistage random sampling. Descriptive statistics were derived district-wise. We computed ratios, differences, equiplots, and Erreygers concentration indices for each district to measure socioeconomic inequality in BP and BG testing. Erreygers decomposition techniques were used to estimate the relative contribution of covariates to socioeconomic inequality.

Results

There was a significant concentration of BP and BG testing favouring wealthier quintiles in Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts. The inequality in BP and BG testing was highest in Thiruvananthapuram (0.087 and 0.110), followed by Kollam (0.077 and 0.090), Alappuzha (0.083 and 0.073) and Kasaragod (0.026 and 0.056). Decomposition analysis revealed that wealth quintile and education contributed substantially to socioeconomic inequality in BP and BG testing in all four districts. It was also found that family history of NCDs significantly contributed to observed socioeconomic inequality in BP testing (29, 11, 16, and 27% in Kasaragod, Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively). Similarly, in BG testing, family history of NCDs substantially contributed to observed socioeconomic inequality, explaining 16–17% in Kasaragod, Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram respectively of the total inequality.

Conclusion

While the magnitude of socioeconomic inequality in NCD risk factor testing did not appear to be very high in four Kerala districts, although levels were statistically significant in three of them. Greater exploration is needed on how education and caste contribute to these inequalities and their relationship to NCD risk factors such as family history. From such analyses, we may be able to identify entry points to mitigate inequalities in testing access, as well as burden.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12939-022-01737-x.

Inequalities in care for the people with diabetes in Brazil: A nationwide study, 2019

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate inequalities in care for people with diabetes in Brazil. This cross-sectional population-based study was carried out in 2019 and evaluated care provided by receiving advice, requesting laboratory tests, and performing examinations. We used the slope index of inequality and concentration index to assess inequalities according to educational level and Poisson regression to estimate prevalence ratios for each outcome in the education category. We assessed a total of 6317 people with diabetes, 41.8% had their eyes checked, and 36.1% had their feet examined in the previous year. Prevalence for both examinations was 2.45 times higher in those from the highest level of education compared to those from the lowest level. The largest absolute differences (in percentage points) between the lowest and highest education levels in care indicators were the following: request for glycated hemoglobin test (39.0), glucose curve test (31.4), and eyes checked in the previous year (29.7). There were notable inequalities in the prevalence ratios of care provided to people with diabetes in Brazil. Requests for glycated hemoglobin tests, glucose curve tests, eye and feet examinations should be emphasized, especially for people from lower educational levels.

Examining inequality in utilisation of health management services for the elderly in rural Henan China

Background

The health management plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the elderly and relieving the pressure of health resource consumption. This study aims to assess the income-related inequality in utilisation of health management services (HMS) for the elderly and the contribution of the related factors to inequality in rural Henan China.

Methods

The data from 2015 Henan Rural Residents Health Survey with 1403 elderly people as the final sample were used for analysis. The concentration index (CI) was used to measure inequality in HMS utilisation for the elderly (no HMS, health assessment, physical examination, auxiliary examination, and health guidance). The decomposition of CI was adopted to explain the contribution of various determinants to inequality in HMS utilisation for the elderly.

Results

No HMS utilisation was disproportionately concentrated among the poor (CI = − 0.0730, p = 0.0155), utilisation of physical and auxiliary examination was disproportionately concentrated among the rich (CI = 0.0575, p = 0.0448; CI = 0.0811, p = 0.0044). In addition, the pro-poor effects of health assessment and guidance utilisation were not statistically significant (CI = − 0.0173, p = 0.4617; CI = − 0.0213, p = 0.3900). The results of CI decomposition revealed that household income and family size made positive contributions to inequality while social medical insurance, gender, marital status, and age made negative contributions to inequality. The improved service satisfaction with village clinics could reduce inequality in HMS utilisation, while the improved service satisfaction with township hospitals could increase inequality in HMS utilisation.

Conclusions

Although HMS for the elderly is provided free of charge, its accessibility remains pro-rich due to various factors. Policy makers should adopt effective interventions to resolve the contradiction between these factors and the utilisation of HMS, and redress inequality in the utilisation of HMS.