Social Determinants and Its Effect on the Development of Diabetes

Student Classification

Junior

Faculty Mentor

Kelsie Bernot, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Biology

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Fall 2019

Disciplines

Biology

Abstract

Social determinants of health are social and economic conditions that impact individual health status. The socioeconomic status of a person is the determinant factor in which this individual is able to afford food, housing, transportation, health care, etc. Those who have a lower status are more likely to have a lower life expectancy, lower self-reported health as well as more chronic illness. The lack of transportation in relation to diabetes was studied. To conduct this study, low income areas in Greensboro, North Carolina were targeted. During community events such as mobile market or community picnics, surveys were given out to the residents in these specific low-income areas (n=68). Within the targeted communities there were 22 (32.3%) households with diabetes and 12 (26.1%) residents that experienced lack of transportation. Chi-squared analysis suggests that lack of transportation and diabetes are independent, being that the asymptotic significance exceeded the p-value 0.05. Although there was no relationship discovered, individually, these two issues are still potential intervention points in our community. In fact, one outcome of our research is that the apartment complex owner has requested replacement of a bench at a bus stop that had previously been removed, thus making it easier for individuals who have difficulty standing for long periods to obtain transportation. Looking at other social determinants such as food or housing security and their impact on diabetes could be our future direction.

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