Specialists are achieving greater strides in motivating patients to self-monitor their type 1 diabetes than primary care physicians, particularly among diabetics who are less
educated. Findings from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health indicate that primary care physicians need to be more aggressively targeted with information
about the importance of providing patients with self-care guidance to prevent diabetes complications. The consumer market for this information is huge. Approximately 12 million
Americans have diabetes; of this group 1.6 million suffer from type 1 diabetes.
Those who received specialist care showed a higher level of diabetes self-management. For instance, recipients of specialist care had lower blood glucose levels than those who
received generalist care: 9.7% vs. 10.3%. And 94% of those under specialist care self-monitor their blood glucose, compared with 79% of those who did not have access to this care.
Other areas of comparison measured in the study include:
- injecting insulin twice a day: 48% (specialist care) vs. 26% (non-specialist care);
- receiving diabetes education: 23% vs. 13%; and
- knowing about the HbAlc (a long-term measure of glycemic control): 83% vs. 68%.
Researchers examined healthcare issues, sociodemographic characteristics and glycemic control information from 429 patients with type 1 diabetes. The study is published in the
April issue of Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association.
(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Kathryn Duda, 412/624-2607)