This paper reports data from an investigation into social disparities in diabetes in relation to area socioeconomic status (SES) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori and Pacific Islander ethnicity. The study researchers obtained data from the National Diabetes Services Scheme to examine the population prevalence of diabetes in a cohort of 7,434,492 Australians and also data from the Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry on treated end-stage renal disease due to diabetes. These data were correlated with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socioeconomic Indexes for Areas, in order to examine socioeconomic disparities. The paper reports the discovery of a social gradient in the prevalence of diabetes in Australia, with an incremental decrease in disease incidence with increasing affluence (Spearman’s rho = 0.765; p<0.001). The risk of developing end-stage renal disease due to type 1 diabetes was higher for males with low SES compared with females with low SES (RR 1.20; 95% CI, 1.002 to 1.459). Among Australian and New Zealand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Māori and Pacific Islanders appear to have a low risk of end-stage renal disease due to type 1 diabetes (RR 6.57; 95% CI, 6.04 to 7.14) but they have a vastly disproportionate burden of end-stage renal disease due to type 2 diabetes (RR 6.48; 95% CI, 6.02 to 6.97; p<0.001) in comparison with other Australians and New Zealanders.
