Kusse Koirita Toitole, Health Management and Policy doctoral student in the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, is lead author of a conference abstract and poster listed in a special issue of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. The poster is titled, “Impact of Health Insurance on Diabetic Eye Screening Service Uptake Among US Adults 45 years and Older.”
Melissa White, alumna, as well as Shimin Zheng, Wondi Manalew, and Nathan Hale, faculty in the College of Public Health, are co-authors.
Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of vision loss. Over 90% of the vision loss caused by diabetes can be prevented by regular annual eye exam and early treatment; however, over half of people living with diabetes in the US do not receive the recommended routine annual eye exam. There is a limited body of literature assessing the specific role of health insurance in diabetic eye exams. This study aims to examine the impact of health insurance on the uptake of diabetic eye exam among US adults living with diabetes.
The 2021 nationally representative survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was used to assess diabetic eye screening service uptake among US adults aged 45 and older with self-reported diabetes. For adults aged 45 to 64 years, access to health insurance was categorized into private, Medicaid, other, and no insurance, while for adults aged 65 years and older it was classified as Medicare, other, or private. Participants who reported having an eye exam within the past year were considered as meeting the recommendations.
Among 53,241 adults with diabetes, over 90% had health insurance. More than two-third (69.9%) of the adults reported having an eye exam within the past year. At multiple logistic regression, having no health insurance was associated with less chance of having an eye exam for the age groups 45–54 years.
The researchers concluded access to health insurance is the most crucial enabling factor for eye exam uptake.