Adult interpersonal violence or childhood abuse, neglect increase later diabetes risk

Both adult interpersonal violence or abuse and childhood abuse or neglect increase the risk for adult-onset diabetes, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Maureen Sanderson, Ph.D., from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues used data from 25,251 lower-income participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study (2002 to 2009 and 2012 to 2015) to explore the relationship between lifetime interpersonal violence or abuse and diabetes.

The researchers found that adult interpersonal violence or abuse was associated with an increased risk for diabetes (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.23; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.16 to 1.30). Diabetes risk was also higher for childhood abuse and neglect. The combination of adult interpersonal violence or abuse and childhood abuse or neglect further elevated the risk for diabetes (aHR, 1.35; 95 percent CI, 1.26 to 1.45) versus experiencing no violence, abuse, or neglect. These associations were consistent for Black and White participants and for women and men.

"Our finding that lifetime interpersonal violence was associated with a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes across race and gender before the additional social stress of the COVID-19 pandemic strongly suggests the need for helping professionals across disciplines to implement effective violence prevention and intervention strategies to reduce the short- and long-term social and health consequences of partner violence and child abuse," Sanderson said in a statement.