SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE BRITISH-DIABETIC-ASSOCIATION IN SCOTLAND

Socio-economic status is an important predictor of mortality and morbi dity in the diabetic and non-diabetic population. Improving the repres entation of people from deprived areas in vocal pressure groups may fo ster practical ideas which would improve health outcome. The general p ublic may be represented through a variety of local and national organ izations. The British Diabetic Association (BDA) represents people wit h diabetes mellitus, their relatives, and their health care profession als. Assuming a uniform diabetes prevalence of 1.5%, there would be 75 484 diabetic people in Scotland, of which only 5649 (7.5%) are curren tly members of the BDA. Using area based codes of socio-economic statu s, it was calculated that the odds ratios of BDA membership in the mos t 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). Stud ies reporting on patient cohorts derived from the BDA membership files will include a higher proportion of patients from the most affluent c ategories, 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.