Canadian Study Puts Annual Diabetes Cost at $5,000+

A Canadian study of almost 140,000 diabetes patients concludes that the five-year cost of managing diabetes, excluding the cost of drugs, averages $26,978 (Canadian dollars).

For diabetes patients 65 and older, that figure climbs substantially, to $44,511, but does include the cost of drugs.

Researchers at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, cited two main factors in the high costs of managing diabetes, including tests and medical care: poor blood sugar control and declining kidney function. Two indicators are proteinuria, a build up of proteins in the urine that indicates kidney damage, and A1c’s over 7.9%.

Other factors contributing to the cost of diabetes care were age, length of time living with the disease, the presence of other diseases alongside diabetes, being a Native American, an income level.

An abstract of the study is available online.