Rural-urban differences in diabetes care and control in 42 low- and middle-income countries: a cross-sectional study of nationally representative, individual-level data

David Flood, Pascal Geldsetzer, Kokou Agoudavi, Krishna K Aryal, Luisa Campos Caldeira Brant, Garry Brian, Maria Dorobantu, Farshad Farzadfar, Oana Fronea, Mongal Singh Gurung, David Guwatudde, Corine Houehanou, Jutta MA Jorgensen, Dimple Kondal, Demetre Labadarios, Maja-Emilia Marcus , Mary T Mayige, Mana Moghimi, Bolormaa Norov, Gastón PermanSarah Quesnel-Crooks, Mohammad-Mahdi Rashidi, Sahar Saeedi Moghaddam, Jacqueline A. Seiglie , Bahendeka Karaireho Silver, Eric Steinbrook, Michaela Theilmann, Lisa Jayne WARE, Sebastian Vollmer, Rifat Atun, Justine Davies, Mohammed K. Ali, Peter Rohloff, Jennifer Manne-Goehler

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes prevalence is increasing rapidly in rural areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), but there are limited data on the performance of health systems in delivering equitable and effective care to rural populations. We therefore assessed rural-urban differences in diabetes care and control in LMICs.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We pooled individual-level data from nationally representative health surveys in 42 countries. We used Poisson regression models to estimate age-adjusted differences in the proportion of individuals with diabetes in rural versus urban areas achieving performance measures for the diagnosis, treatment, and control of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risk factors. We examined differences across the pooled sample, by sex, and by country.

RESULTS: The pooled sample from 42 countries included 840,110 individuals (35,404 with diabetes). Compared with urban populations with diabetes, rural populations had ∼15–30% lower relative risk of achieving performance measures for diabetes diagnosis and treatment. Rural populations with diagnosed diabetes had a 14% (95% CI 5–22%) lower relative risk of glycemic control, 6% (95% CI −5 to 16%) lower relative risk of blood pressure control, and 23% (95% CI 2–39%) lower relative risk of cholesterol control. Rural women with diabetes had lower achievement of performance measures relating to control than urban women, whereas among men, differences were small.

CONCLUSIONS: Rural populations with diabetes experience substantial inequities in the achievement of diabetes performance measures in LMICs. Programs and policies aiming to strengthen global diabetes care must consider the unique challenges experienced by rural populations.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberdc212342
Pages (from-to)1961-1970
JournalDiabetes Care
Volume45
Issue number9
Early online date30 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 30 Jun 2022

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