Mortality has declined substantially among people with diabetes mellitus over the last decade. Whether all income groups have benefited equally, however, is unclear. We examined the impact of income on mortality trends among people with diabetes.
In this population-based, retrospective cohort study, we compared changes in mortality from Apr. 1, 1994, to Mar. 31, 2005, by neighbourhood income strata among people with diabetes aged 30 years or more in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Overall, the annual age- and sex-adjusted mortality declined, from 4.05% in 1994/95 (95% confidence interval [CI] 3.98%-4.11%) to 2.69% in 2005/06 (95% CI 2.66%-2.73%). The decrease was significantly greater in the highest income group (by 36%) than in the lowest income group (by 31%; p