Out of Pocket Diabetes-Related Medical Expenses for Adolescents and Young Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study

The significant increase in the complexity of diabetes care over the last two decades is associated with a high economic burden (1), with almost one-quarter of adults with diabetes burdened with significant out of pocket expenses (OOPEs) (2). Little is known about the OOPEs for families of adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes. We therefore report the diabetes-related OOPEs for these families from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth (SEARCH) study and their association with demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and health care characteristics. A detailed description of the SEARCH study methods has previously been published (3). Participants had a baseline visit shortly after diabetes diagnosis and one or more follow-up visits; this report includes data from a follow-up visit between November 2011 and July 2015, at which time participants’ diabetes duration was >5 years. Participants ≥18 years old or a parent/guardian of participants