Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #117789

Amy Chanlongbutra, MPH¹, Barbara Bartman, MD, MPH¹, Felicia Collins, MD, MPH¹, and Leiyu Shi, DrPH, MBA². (1) Division of Clinical Quality, Health Resources & Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-594-1202, achanlongbutra@hrsa.gov, (2) Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Room 409, Baltimore, MD 21212

Objectives: To compare the quality of diabetes care between patients receiving care at community health centers (CHCs) funded by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) with the general and low-income populations of the United States and examine socioeconomic disparities in care.

Methods: The 2002 CHC User Survey and the 2002 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used for these analyses to provide nationally representative population-based data. Outcomes of interest included patient reports of receiving eye exams, foot exams, influenza vaccines, or pneumovax in the previous year. For each outcome, rates were calculated by race/ethnicity, income, and insurance. Comparisons were made between CHC users and NHIS populations using student t-tests. SUDAAN was used to calculate standard errors.

Results: The estimated prevalence rate for adults with diabetes in CHCs is approximately 16% (N=3,861,249), compared with the general population 8.8%, (N=77,539,906) and the low-income population 11.8% (N=17,660,743). Patients with diabetes who received care at CHCs were equally likely to receive preventive services and significantly more likely to have had an eye exam (62.5%) and an influenza vaccination (77.9%) than that of the general and low-income populations.

Findings: Although CHCs serve a more vulnerable population, care received there is comparable to that received by the general population and may be better for the socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe the sociodemographic characteristics of community health center diabetic patients
• To evaluate the quality of diabetes care received by community health center patients versus the general population
• To improve the quality of diabetes care in the general population through evaluation of outcomes in the community health center patients

Keywords: Diabetes, Community Health Centers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.