Lifetime Interpersonal Violence or Abuse and Diabetes Rates by Sex and Race

Maureen Sanderson; Mekeila Cook; L Lauren Brown; Veronica Mallett; Ann L Coker

doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2023.06.007

Lifetime Interpersonal Violence or Abuse and Diabetes Rates by Sex and Race

Am J Prev Med. 2023 Nov;65(5):783-791. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.06.007. Epub 2023 Jun 9.

Authors

Maureen Sanderson¹, Mekeila Cook², L Lauren Brown³, Veronica Mallett⁴, Ann L Coker⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee. Electronic address: msanderson@mmc.edu.
² Division of Public Health Practice, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee.
³ Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee.
⁴ Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Common Spirit Health, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky; Center for Research on Violence Against Women, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

PMID: 37302511
PMCID: PMC10592556 (available on 2024-11-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2023.06.007

Abstract

Introduction: Lifetime exposure to interpersonal violence or abuse has been associated with several chronic diseases, including adult-onset diabetes, yet this pattern has not been confirmed by sex and race within a large cohort.

Methods: Data from the Southern Community Cohort Study collected between 2002-2009 and 2012-2015 were used to explore the relationship between lifetime interpersonal violence or abuse and diabetes (N=25,251). Prospective analyses of lower-income people living in the southeastern U.S. were conducted in 2022 to examine the risk of adult-onset diabetes associated with lifetime interpersonal violence or abuse by sex and race. Lifetime interpersonal violence or abuse was defined as (1) physical or psychological violence, threats, or abuse in adulthood (adult interpersonal violence or abuse) and (2) childhood abuse or neglect.

Results: After adjustment for potentially confounding factors, adult interpersonal violence or abuse was associated with a 23% increased risk of diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio=1.23; 95% CI=1.16, 1.30). Diabetes risks associated with childhood abuse or neglect were 15% (95% CI=1.02, 1.30) for neglect and 26% (95% CI=1.19, 1.35) for abuse. When combining adult interpersonal violence or abuse and childhood abuse or neglect, the risk of diabetes was 35% higher (adjusted hazard ratio=1.35; 95% CI=1.26, 1.45) than those experiencing no violence, abuse, or neglect. This pattern held among Black and White participants, and among women and men.

Conclusions: Both adult interpersonal violence or abuse and childhood abuse or neglect increased the risk of adult-onset diabetes in a dose-dependent pattern for men and women, and by race. Intervention and prevention efforts to reduce adult interpersonal violence or abuse and childhood abuse or neglect could not only reduce the risk of lifetime interpersonal violence or abuse but may also reduce one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, adult-onset diabetes.

Abstract

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