DIFFERENCES IN MORTALITY BY EDUCATION LEVEL AMONG PATIENTS IN DIABETIC REGISTRY FOR THAILAND

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to determine the impact of education on mortality due cardiovascular, infectious and renal disease, and cancer among Thai diabetics using data from the Thailand diabetes registry cohort prospected and conducted between April 2003 and February 2006. The study population consisted of 9,370 registered diabetic patients attending ten diabetes clinics at tertiary medical centers in Bangkok and major provinces. The population was classified by education level: those who had not yet attained a bachelor's degree classified as having "lower education" (7,684: 82%) and those with a bachelor's degree or higher classified as having "higher education" (1,686:18%). The overall mortality rate among those in the higher education group was lower than those in the lower education group (8.9 vs 20.5 per 1,000 patient-years, respectively) with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.43 (0.31-0.61). The higher education group also had lower mortality rates due to infectious disease [HR 0.10 (0.02-0.41)], renal disease [HR 0.24 (0.06-0.99)] and cardiovascular disease [HR 0.42 (0.22-0.80)]. There was no difference in cancer mortality between the two groups [HR 1.25 (0.74-2.11)].