Social inequality in type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Faroe Islands: a cross-sectional study

Aims: The Faroe Islands is considered a homogeneous society and has a low Gini coefficient, but the knowledge about the social distribution of health and disease is sparse. In a large population-based sample we investigated: (a) the association between socioeconomic position defined by level of educ...

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Published in:Scandinavian journal of public health 2022-07, Vol.50 (5), p.638-645
Main Authors: Honnudóttir, Vár, Hansen, Louise, Veyhe, Anna Sofía, Andersen, Ingelise, Weihe, Pál, Strøm, Marin, Mohr, Magni
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Aims: The Faroe Islands is considered a homogeneous society and has a low Gini coefficient, but the knowledge about the social distribution of health and disease is sparse. In a large population-based sample we investigated: (a) the association between socioeconomic position defined by level of education and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus by self-report in the Faroe Islands; and (b) to what degree lifestyle factors mediate the association. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the population-based Public Health Survey Faroes 2015 (n=1095). We present odds ratios for type 2 diabetes mellitus by socioeconomic position from logistic regression models. In our main model we adjusted for potential confounders and in a secondary model we additionally adjusted for potential mediating lifestyle factors. Results: Individuals with middle and low levels of education display higher odds ratios of type 2 diabetes mellitus of 2.80 (95% confidence interval 1.32–5.92) and 4.65 (95% confidence interval 1.93–11.17) in adjusted analysis, respectively, compared to their counterparts with high education. After adjustment for potentially mediating lifestyle factors the estimates were attenuated slightly, but a significant statistical association remained, with lifestyle-related mediating factors in total explaining 21% for middle education and 34% for low education participants. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that there may be a social gradient in the distribution of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Faroe Islands, and that the association is partly mediated by lifestyle factors.
ISSN:1403-4948
1651-1905
DOI:10.1177/14034948211013267