377 Impact of social determinants of health on diabetes and obesity in the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area

Abstract

Objectives/Goals: Both diabetes and obesity are major health issues in the USA. Though much focus is given on the impact of lifestyle modifications to control diabetes and obesity, more information needs to be established about the association of social determinants of health and them. This study explores these associations, focusing on the DMV area. Methods/Study Population: The data for this study were collected for 158 counties which cover two states Maryland and Virginia, and Washington DC from PolicyMap. PolicyMap is a geography information system (GIS) that aggregates different types of data from different sources for research purposes. County-level data on public health related to different SDoH like median age, and percentages proportions of different ethnicity (Hispanic or Latino), percentages of different race, and nativity (foreign born), gender (ratio of male to female), access to primary healthcare, social vulnerability index (SVI), and median household income was used in this study. Statistical methods like multiple regression, one way ANOVA, and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were used to determine which factors are associated with these two conditions. Results/Anticipated Results: For both diabetes prevalence and obesity, multiple linear regression model with backward elimination was used to select variables which associated with them. The backward elimination process selected the set of factors for which the adjusted R square was the highest. In both cases, median household income, median age of population, social vulnerability level, percentage of white population, and percentage of foreign-born population were found to be significant at 5% level of significant. Pearson’s correlation coefficients showed significant positive relationship between factors like obesity and diabetes, median age and access to health care, and negative relationship between obesity and foreign born. Income, healthcare access, and white population were found to be significantly different SVIs from ANOVA. Discussion/Significance of Impact: This research study found that some SDoH affect diabetes and obesity in the same direction. The association is positive for median age and negative for income, SVI, percentage of white population, and foreign born. The associations were found between actionable and non-actionable factors like percentage of white population with access to health care.