Cited by 1,732Health disparities and outcomesPublic Health and Social InequalitiesDiabetes Management and Education

Social determinants of health and diabetes: A scientific review

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Hill-Briggs, Felicia, Adler, Nancy E., Berkowitz, Seth A., Chin, Marshall H., Gary-Webb, Tiffany L., Navas-Acien, Ana, Thornton, Pamela L., Haire-Joshu, Debra·2021·Diabetes Care

Abstract

Decades of research have demonstrated that diabetes affects racial and ethnic minority and low-income adult populations in the U.S. disproportionately, with relatively intractable patterns seen in these populations’ higher risk of diabetes and rates of diabetes complications and mortality (1). With a health care shift toward greater emphasis on population health outcomes and value-based care, social determinants of health (SDOH) have risen to the forefront as essential intervention targets to achieve health equity (2–4). Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted unequal vulnerabilities borne by racial and ethnic minority groups and by disadvantaged communities. In the wake of concurrent pandemic and racial injustice events in the U.S., the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, Society of General Internal Medicine, National Academy of Medicine, and other professional organizations have published statements on SDOH (5–8), and calls to action focus on amelioration of these determinants at individual, organizational, and policy levels (9–11). In diabetes, understanding and mitigating the impact of SDOH are priorities due to disease prevalence, economic costs, and disproportionate population burden (12–14). In 2013, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) published a scientific statement on socioecological determinants of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (15). Toward the goal ofunderstanding and advancing opportunities for health improvement among the population with diabetes through addressing SDOH, ADA convened the current SDOH and diabetes writing committee, prepandemic, to review the literature on 1 ) associations of SDOH with diabetes risk and outcomes and 2 ) impact of interventions targeting amelioration of SDOH on diabetes outcomes. This article begins with an overview of key definitions and SDOH frameworks. The literature review focuses primarily on U.S.-based studies of adults with diabetes and on five SDOH: socioeconomic status (education, income, occupation); neighborhood and physical environment (housing, built environment, toxic environmental …

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  • This care gap is a major source of health disparity, with racial and ethnic minorities, and under-resourced communities, having worse outcomes, and a disproportionately higher prevalence of DED.

    “This care gap is a major source of health disparity, with racial and ethnic minorities, and under-resourced communities, having worse outcomes, and a disproportionately higher prevalence of DED2,5–9.”

    From Autonomous artificial intelligence increases screening and follow-up for diabetic retinopathy in youth: the ACCESS randomized control trial (2024) · cites this paper as [5]

    The Introduction reports higher diabetes risk, complications, and mortality among racial and ethnic minority and low-income populations. The Health Care and Diabetes section documents disparities in care quality, including dilated eye examinations. Neither passage establishes that the care gap causes a higher prevalence of DED in those groups. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • These findings suggest that predictive modeling benefits from capturing both scales of SDoH, with area-level indices providing broad contextual signals and individual-level measures offering more actionable insights for tailoring case management interventions.

    “These findings suggest that predictive modeling benefits from capturing both scales of SDoH, with area-level indices providing broad contextual signals and individual-level measures offering more actionable insights for tailoring case management interventions [33,36,37].”

    From Machine learning-driven risk prediction for post-hospitalization diabetes case management: Integrating clinical and social determinants of health (2026) · cites this paper as [33]

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  • Evidence supports associations between social determinants of health and diabetes mellitus-related outcomes.

    “Evidence also supports associations between SDOH and diabetes mellitus-related outcomes148.”
  • The analysis also does not account for social determinants of health, which may impact the glycemic and weight outcomes in this population.

    “The analysis also does not account for social determinants of health, which may impact the glycemic and weight outcomes in this population (25).”
  • Social determinants of health influence outcomes among patients with diabetes, particularly in vulnerable populations.

    “At the same time, there is growing recognition that social determinants of health (SDoH)—including socioeconomic status, food access, housing stability, and transportation—influence outcomes among patients with diabetes, particularly in vulnerable populations [31–34].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [5]National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Integrating Social Care Into the Delivery of Health Care: Moving Upstream to Improve the Nation's Health. Washington, DC, National Academies Press, 2019 31940159
  2. [21]U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020: An Opportunity to Address the Societal Determinants of Health in the United States. Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020, 26 July 2010. Accessed 25 October 2020. Available from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2010/hp2020/advisory/SocietalDeterminantsHealth.htm 26095483
  3. [310]Douglass F. Chapter X, Learning to Read. In Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. New York, Citadel Press, 1983

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Authors
Hill-Briggs, F., Adler, N. E., Berkowitz, S. A., Chin, M. H., Gary-Webb, T. L., Navas-Acien, A., Thornton, P. L., & Haire-Joshu, D.
Affiliations
  • Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of Chicago (US)
  • Departments of Epidemiology and Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Washington University in St. Louis (US)
Venue
Diabetes Care
Published
2020-11-02
Volume
44
Issue
1
Pages
258-279
ISSN
  • 0149-5992 (ISSN-L)
  • 1935-5548
OpenAlex
W3096909987
Cited by
1,732
References
294
Citations by year
2026: 312 · 2025: 407 · 2024: 400 · 2023: 292 · 2022: 229 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 6
FWCI
84.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Diabetes Care (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5t32hl007180-45, UL1TR003098)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (T32-HL-007180, R01HL131531)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K23DK109200, P30DK092949, P30DK092950, P30DK092926)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P42ES010349, P30ES009089)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Health › Public Health and Social Inequalities
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
Keywords
social determinants of health, diabetes mellitus, health equity, racial and ethnic minorities, low-income populations, socioeconomic status, neighborhood environment, built environment, housing, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetes complications, diabetes mortality, COVID-19 pandemic

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