Socio-economic status and membership of the British Diabetic Association in Scotland

Socio-economic status is an important predictor of mortality and morbidity in the diabetic and non-diabetic population. Improving the representation of people from deprived areas in vocal pressure groups may foster practical ideas which would improve health outcome. The general public may be represented through a variety of local and national organizations. The British Diabetic Association (BDA) represents people with diabetes mellitus, their relatives, and their health care professionals. Assuming a uniform diabetes prevalence of 1.5%, there would be 75484 diabetic people in Scotland, of which only 5649 (7.5%) are currently members of the BDA. Using area based codes of socio-economic status, it was calculated that the odds ratios of BDA membership in the most affluent category (1) to the most deprived category (7) were 1.00, 0.81, 0.68, 0.57, 0.45, 0.43 and 0.21, respectively (p < 0.00001). Studies reporting on patient cohorts derived from the BDA membership files will include a higher proportion of patients from the most affluent categories, thus, these studies may underestimate overall morbidity and mortality. By promoting membership in the deprived categories it may be possible to develop a clearer picture of diabetes mellitus and new ideas which would help to narrow the health divide.