Socioeconomic Status and the Management of Chronic Conditions: Implications for the Socioeconomic Gradient in Health

Abstract

129 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007.The second chapter of my dissertation reveals large and statistically significant income and race disparities in patient adherence to various components of the diabetes treatment regimen. The mechanisms largely responsible for these disparities are differences in patients' education levels and gaps in insurance coverage. For a few components of the regimen, marital status and delay in adherence by recently diagnosed patients also explain some of the socioeconomic disparities. While reliance on routine contact with a doctor for diabetes care increases the probability of adherence compared to reliance on emergency or hospital care, controlling for sites of care does not explain socioeconomic disparities in adherence. Adherence to most components of the regimen is also improved if the patient has a usual source of care and if that usual source of care is a specialist instead of a general practice physician or a facility but these factors do not account for socioeconomic disparities in adherence.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD