(Reuters Health) - Canadian children with type 1 diabetes who are poor are less likely to receive an insulin pump, especially where the cost is only partially funded, a new study finds.
The analysis of data from more than 3,500 children with type 1 diabetes from two Canadian provinces - one with full and the other only partial coverage for pumps - revealed that materially disadvantaged children were less likely to receive a pump in both provinces. But the disparity was significantly greater in Manitoba, where pumps were only partially funded, as compared with Quebec, where they are fully covered, according to the results in JAMA Network Open.
"The take-home message from our study is that healthcare systems providing full financial coverage for diabetes devices and supplies can reduce, but not completely eliminate, socioeconomic disparities in uptake of these devices in children with type 1 diabetes," said the study's first author, Dr. Jennifer Ladd, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Montreal Children's Hospital, a clinical assistant professor at McGill University, and a Master's candidate in the Epidemiology program at McGill.
"This study will now serve as important evidence to advocate for additional funding for pump supplies for children in the province of Manitoba to reduce the disparities in pump uptake," she said.
