Association Between Recent Criminal Legal Involvement and Functional Status Among US Adults with Diabetes: 2015–2019

Diabetes is a significant public health concern with significant implications for health equity. Functional disability undermines disease control and may be associated with the relationship between criminal legal involvement and poor chronic disease outcomes, but this relationship has not been studied. This study examined the association between recent criminal legal involvement and functional disability among a nationally representative sample of US adults with diabetes. Adult respondents to the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (2015–2019) who reported a diagnosis of diabetes were included in this analysis examining the association between three forms of recent criminal legal involvement (past year arrest, or supervision on probation or parole) and functional disability, as measured by the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Score 2.0. In multivariate linear regression analyses adjusted for relevant socio-demographic and clinical confounders, the functional disability score increased by 2.7 (95% CI, 1.6–3.9) for those with past year arrest compared to no past year arrest; 1.2 (95% CI, -0.1, 2.6) for those with past year probation compared to no past year probation; and 0.4 (95% CI, -1.1, 1.8) for those with past year parole compared to no past year parole. Recent criminal legal involvement, specifically past year arrest, is associated with greater functional disability, which may serve as an important mediator for poor health outcomes in patients with diabetes. Future research should examine this pathway and prioritize interventions to improve both functional disability and glycemic control among individuals with diabetes and recent criminal legal involvement.