Background/Aim
Diabetes requires ongoing self-management, including dietary management, which may interact with the demands of paid work (1). Women may face additional challenges, including care responsibilities, work disruptions during pregnancy and childbirth, and gender inequities in the labor markets (2). These factors may interact with diabetes to shape women’s paid work participation and diabetes self-management. However, published research has predominantly focused on the general population, while women-specific evidence remains limited. This review aims to synthesize existing evidence on the association between diabetes and women’s paid work participation and its interaction with workplace diabetes self-management, particularly dietary management.
Method
MEDLINE was searched on 21 April 2026 for English, peer-review studies published after 2000 and examining the association between diabetes and work-related outcomes among working-age women. Eligible studies included observational and qualitive studies. Two reviewers independently screening records in Covidence, with disagreements resolved through discussion with a third reviewer. Thus, n = 2,217 records were screened, n = 208 in full-text review, and n = 45 were ultimately included.
Result
Diabetes was associated with poorer paid work outcomes among women, although findings vary across studies and outcome measures. Published studies reported lower employment rates among women with diabetes than those without diabetes. An Australian modelling study estimated an average loss of 1.39 productivity-adjusted life years per woman with diabetes, representing a 10.5% reduction compared with women without diabetes (3). Qualitative evidence highlighted interactions between work demands and diabetes self-management, particularly dietary management. Time pressure, work-related stress, workplace culture, shift work, and temporary employment disrupted diabetes self-management, including healthy eating, regular meals, glucose monitoring and insulin administration. Some women delaying self-management activities to accommodate work demands (4).
Conclusion
Overall, diabetes was associated with poorer paid work participation among women, while workplace conditions may also hinder diabetes self-management, including maintaining a health diet. However, women-specific evidence still limited, with substantial heterogeneity in study population, outcome definitions, and methodologies. Further longitudinal research focused on women is necessary to better understand this relationship to improve the gender-sensitive strategies and policies in the workplace that support sustained work participation and effective diabetes self-management.