Child Opportunity Index: Does It Foretell Future Glycemic Control and Health Care Utilization in Youth With Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes?

This article reports on a retrospective study examining associations between neighborhood opportunity and glycemic trajectory and health care utilization among youth with diabetes using Child Opportunity Index 3.0 (COI) data linked to ZIP codes. The study found that glycemic control and health care utilization were worse in the setting of adverse COI and individual social determinants of health, but both were also independently associated with race. Key Points · Residing in lower-resourced neighborhoods is associated with adverse features at diabetes diagnosis in youth, but whether it also predicts outcomes during the initial 2 years of follow-up has been unknown. This study examined whether glycemic control and health care utilization differ by neighborhood-level Child Opportunity Index (COI) and how outcomes may differ by race and diabetes type. · Black youth had worse glycemic control and more frequent hospital admissions independent of COI. Youth with type 2 diabetes attended fewer clinic visits, also independent of COI. · Reasons for persistent racial disparities in glycemic control and diabetes health care utilization should be investigated.