Mental health drives hospitalisations for young type 2 diabetes patients

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-08-05 04:00

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People with type 2 diabetes are more likely to spend more time in hospital for a range of medical conditions, according to international research that compared the health of over 700,000 diabetes patients in Hong Kong with a similar group of people without the condition. The researchers say those with type 2 diabetes spent more days in hospital overall, and while those without diabetes saw their hospitalisation rates increase steadily with age, there was a 'J-shaped' relationship for hospitalisations among diabetes patients. The researchers say, amid the spike in hospitalisations among patients when they were young, 38.4% of days in hospital for those under 40 were attributed to mental health disorders.