Introduction and Objective: Disparities in diabetes technology use are now well described in youth with type 1 diabetes, but little is known about the role of medical mistrust and racism in healthcare as it relates to technology use. Methods: Baseline surveys from a larger intervention study with 51 caregivers of Non-Hispanic Black youth with type 1 diabetes and not using automated insulin delivery were analyzed. Experiences of racism and medical mistrust were examined in relation to CGM use and diabetes technology attitudes/barriers. Associations were examined using multivariate logistic and linear regression models. Results: Caregivers reporting more racism in healthcare had lower diabetes technology acceptance (β=-0.07, 95% CI -0.14-0, p=0.036). In the subset of youth with existing type 1 diabetes (45 days, N=37) β is -0.08, 95% CI -0.16-0.01, p=0.031. Caregivers perceiving higher racism also had higher levels of medical mistrust (Spearman ρ = 0.81, p0.001). No associations were found between medical mistrust and technology acceptance, barriers or CGM use. Conclusion: To reduce disparities in diabetes technology use, healthcare teams should address racism and implicit biases impacting families’ experience of care. Disclosure L. Sun: None. R. Hazen: None. S.D. Ronis: None. Y. Zhu: None. S. MacLeish: Speaker's Bureau; Current; Insulet Corporation. Research Support; Current; Insulet Corporation, Dexcom, Inc., Medtronic. Funding NIH ROI Rainbow Babies and Children's Research Grant. NIH (1RO1 DK134953-01)
SUN et al. (Fri,) studied this question.