Age-Adjusted Diabetes Mortality Rates in Chicago: Racial & Spatial Disparities and Correlates

Local-level diabetes mortality data, which may be quite helpful for catalyzing communities and generating funds for interventions, are not readily available. We thus calculated age-adjusted diabetes mortality rates (AADMR) for Chicago by race/ethnicity (R/E) and by community area (CA). For R/E we calculated 3-year averages for the years 1991-2007 and for CAs we calculated 5-year averages for the years 2003-2007.

Data for 2005-2007 reveal extensive variation in the rate across R/E groups. The overall rate for Chicago was 28.1 (per 100,000 population); it was 69.4 for Puerto Ricans, 38.5 for NH Blacks, 26.0 for Mexicans and 20.7 for NH Whites.

The 2003-2007 five-year averages reveal extensive variation in the AADMRs across Chicago's 77 officially designated community areas. They exhibit strong correlations with R/E ranging from a low of 10.0 to a high of 64.1. For example, the rates are highly positively correlated with the percent NH Black population (r=0.58, p<.0001) and negatively with the percent NH White population (r=-0.62, p<.0001). For all CAs, the AADMR is strongly correlated with the median household income (r=-0.56, p<.0001). However, for CAs that are predominantly NH Black (>60% NH Black population, N=28), the association is weak and non-significant (r=-0.05, p=0.79). The same is true for predominantly NH White (N=13) (r=-0.12, p=0.68) and Hispanic (N=12) CAs (r=-0.09, p=0.67). These data suggest substantial implications for understanding the role of R/E and SES in shaping diabetes mortality in Chicago and across the nation and for interventions for remediation.