Inequitable diabetes treatment

[Posted: Fri 29/04/2005 - www.irishhealth.com]

By Niall Hunter-Editor

Not all diabetes patients in Ireland may be getting access to the medications they need, a new study has indicated.

The type of treatment you get if you have diabetes can depend on where you live in Ireland, the study shows.

A research team from St James's Hospital in Dublin compared the prescribing of preventive medications for patients with both insulin dependent and non-insulin dependent diabetes between the health board regions in Ireland.

The researchers used data from the medical card scheme prescribing database to examine the variability of prescribing for diabetes between the health board regions in people with diabetes aged 45 years and over.

Prescribing rates of six secondary prevention medications were examined for each region, including heart drugs like ACE inhibitors and beta blockers; and statins (cholesterol reducing drugs).

The researchers said wide variations were observed between regions for prescribing of preventive drugs , with the highest variability observed for statin prescribing and for one of the heart drugs studied, AT2 antagonists.

The study concludes that access to secondary preventive medications in diabetes is not equitable across regions and across gender and age in Ireland.

While much of the variability remains unexplained, it may be due to differences in screening and health promotion between regions, prescriber uncertainty, variability in clinical need, or may be due to socio-economic disparities between regions, the researchers said.

The study is published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

amanda(KNA39823)  Posted: 06/01/2006 17:58

I am type 1 diabetic, and believe the treatment for all diabetics is inequitable, I attend the clinic in St. James and at one time you could walk in for help or adive, now you have to have an appointment whichi could be 1-2 weeks away, so if you are experiencing difficulties this means you have to go to your GP for help which is not the answer

John(johnwilliams)  Posted: 10/01/2006 23:03

Amanda. Did you get onto Mary Harney? She is responsible for the cut-backs and if the public doesn't object she will cut back even more.

boss  Posted: 14/03/2006 18:56

i have chonic heart disease as well as diabetes.i take insulin and tablets, i have been waiting since october for an appointment at my clinic,i now have to wait until may.WHY?

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