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

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
• Main Authors: Honnudóttir, Vár, Hansen, Louise, Veyhe, Anna Sofía, Andersen, Ingelise, Weihe, Pál, Strøm, Marin, Mohr, Magni
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: cross-sectional study; health; Social inequality; socioeconomic position; type 2 diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology; Life Style; Prevalence; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; Educational Status; Diabetes Mellitus; Type 2/epidemiology; Socioeconomic Factors; Faroe Islands; Faroes
• Online Access: https://portal.findresearcher.sdu.dk/da/publications/567ca967-5ad5-42cc-b221-28e0fd04d93f; https://doi.org/10.1177/14034948211013267

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.