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People with diabetes in the lowest income neighborhoods of California were 10 times more likely to lose lower extremities to amputation than people with diabetes in the highest income neighborhoods, according to a new paper published in Health Affairs.
Many news outlets covered the story, but none that I read provided much context beyond repeating what the Health Affairs paper had to say, which is a shame because there’s a lot to report. Most ignored the disturbing racial disparity in amputation rates. (HealthDay News did note the study’s finding that less than 6 percent of diabetics in California are black, but they account for about 13 percent of amputations.)
The study authors mapped hot spots of diabetic amputation in Los Angeles and across California, where rates varied from less than one to more than 10 amputations per 1,000 people age 45 and older with diabetes in 2009. Continue reading