Race, Structural Racism, and Prevalence of Diabetes in US Neighborhoods

Are race and 2 measures of structural racism (historic and contemporary) associated with the prevalence of diabetes at the US census-tract level, and what are the direct and indirect pathways for this association?In this cross-sectional study of 15 190 census tracts, there was a direct association between African American or Black race, historic structural racism and contemporary structural racism, and higher prevalence of diabetes at the census-tract level. In addition, there was an indirect association between African American or Black race and higher prevalence of diabetes at the census-tract level via contemporary structural racism.These findings suggest that African American or Black race, historic structural racism, and contemporary structural racism were associated with higher diabetes prevalence at the census-tract level in the US.

Corresponding Author: Leonard E. Egede, MD, MS, Division of Population Health, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, 77 Goodell St, Ste 320, Buffalo, NY 14203 (legede@buffalo.edu).

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