Comparing the mortality risks of nursing professionals with diabetes and general patients with diabetes: a nationwide matched cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundNursing professionals have received comprehensive medical education and training. However, whether these medical professionals exhibit positive patient care attitudes and behaviors and thus reduce mortality risks when they themselves are diagnosed with chronic diseases is worth exploring. This study compared the mortality risks of female nurses and general patients with diabetes and elucidated factors that caused this difference.MethodsA total of 510,058 female patients newly diagnosed with diabetes between 1998 and 2006 as recorded in the National Health Insurance Research Database were the participants in this study. Nurses with diabetes and general population with diabetes were matched with propensity score method in a 1:10 ratio. The participants were tracked from the date of diagnosis to 2009. The Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to compare the mortality risks in the two groups.ResultsNurses were newly diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age compared with the general public (42.01 ± 12.03 y vs. 59.29 ± 13.11 y). Nevertheless, the matching results showed that nurses had lower mortality risks (HR: 0.53, 95 % CI: 0.38–0.74) and nurses with diabetes in the < 35 and 35–44 age groups exhibited significantly lower mortality risks compared with general patients (HR: 0.23 and 0.36). A further analysis indicated that the factors that influenced the mortality risks of nurses with diabetes included age, catastrophic illnesses, and the severity of diabetes complications.ConclusionNurses with diabetes exhibited lower mortality risks possibly because they had received comprehensive medical education and training, may had more knowledge regarding chronic disease control and change their lifestyles. The results can serve as a reference for developing heath education, and for preventing occupational hazards in nurses.

Mortality rates and cardiovascular disease burden in type 2 diabetes by occupation, results from all Swedish employees in 2002–2015

“…As far as we know, this is the first study to give a comprehensive overview of the prognosis of people with type 2 diabetes across occupational groups. However, a Chinese study found lower death rates in nurses with diabetes than the general population of patients [ 26 ], which is in line with our findings. Previous studies indicate that low SES is associated with higher rates of mortality and CVD in individuals with type 2 diabetes [ 9 , 10 ].…”

Incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes by occupation: results from all Swedish employees

“…To what extent this is reflected in high morbidity and sickness absence and disability pension is not known. Recent Swedish studies indicate that low SES is associated with increased risk of diabetes complications [24] and disability related to diabetes [25], but few studies have explored the risk of comorbidity and work disability across different occupational groups [26]. It seems possible that workplace factors such as irregular working hours, shift work, stress and physically strenuous work may hinder optimal self-management and contribute to excess risk of complications.…”

Reduced Risks of Both Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Strokes in Nurses: A Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan

“…Although the older nurse subgroups had lower risks of both stroke types than their counterparts, the risks still increased with aging. This could be because the nurses receive medical education and training, and thus have knowledge regarding the prevention of chronic diseases [15,16]; they can apply such knowledge to adjust their lifestyles in order to prevent diseases and reduce the death rate from such diseases. Furthermore, studies have reported consistent results that the risk of chronic diseases was lower in health care professionals [15,16,17,18,19].…”

“…(1) Nurses receive medical education and have a higher rate of health-seeking behavior when they discover any anomalies in their bodies. They also commonly maintain healthy lifestyles, thereby promoting personal well-being and lowering the risk of stroke [15,16,17,21]. (2) Nurses also enjoy convenient access to medical care in the event of disease incidence [22,23,24].…”