4/13/2024 –
A recent study by Case Western Reserve University used national data from U.S. military veterans with diabetes to validate and modify a widely accepted model used to predict the risk of heart failure in diabetic patients.
The model, called the WATCH-DM score, is used to predict the likelihood of heart failure in diabetes patients within five years.
But because it overlooks the influence of social determinants of health‚ such as housing, food and a patient’s neighborhood, the researchers used a social deprivation index (SDI), a multi-component summary score, to adjust the WATCH-DM score.
The SDI, introduced by the Robert Graham Center, a group of clinical researchers, can quantify the level of disadvantage in particular areas using food, housing, transportation and community conditions. Prior research demonstrated this score is directly proportional to the level of health disparities observed in communities.
