Table 2.
Forms of Health Service Use Among the Diabetes Cohort by Drug Treatment Categories
| Managed Without Drugs (n = 1,346) | Insulin-Managed (n = 1,428) | Oral Sulfonylurea-Managed (n = 1,791) | ||||
| Health Service Use Characteristics | Mean Visits† | % 1+ Visit | Mean Visits | % 1+ Visit | Mean Visits | % 1+ Visit |
| Total Health Center Visits* | 10.1 ± 8.8 | (95.9) | 14.2 ± 11.9 | (97.5) | 10.7 ± 8.5 | (97.5) |
| Scheduled | 8.8 ± 8.1 | (94.1) | 12.7 ± 10.9 | (96.9) | 9.6 ± 7.8 | (96.5) |
| Same Day or Urgent | 1.3 ± 1.8 | (58.6) | 1.6 ± 2.2 | (62.0) | 1.2 ± 1.7 | (56.8) |
| Specialist Visits (Endocrinology) | 0.07 ± 0.46 | (3.1) | 0.22 ± 0.96 | (8.1) | 0.05 ± 0.39 | (2.7) |
| Total Emergency Room† | 0.23 ± 0.63 | (16.1) | 0.43 ± 1.0 | (25.3) | 0.26 ± 0.72 | (17.0) |
| Total Hospitalizations | 0.17 ± 0.49 | (13.1) | 0.31 ± 0.77 | (20.2) | 0.19 ± 0.56 | (13.2) |
| Diabetes Medications‡ | ||||||
| Avg # Dispensing per Yr | --- | 7.3 ± 3.9 | 5.5 ± 3.5 | |||
| Avg Standard Monthly Dose (SMD) | --- | 1.3 ± 0.93 | 1.4 ± 1.3 | |||
| Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose | ||||||
| Any (1+ Test Strip) | 97 | (7.2) | 936 | (65.6) | 431 | (24.1) |
| Regular§ | N/A | N/A | 320 | (22.4) | 123 | (6.9) |
| Completed HbA1c Tests|| | ||||||
| Avg # HbA1c Tests per Yr | 1.7 ± 0.9 | 2.2 ± 1.4 | 2.1 ± 1.3 | |||
| Total # HbA1c Tests | ||||||
| 0 | 705 | (52.4) | 317 | (22.2) | 418 | (23.3) |
| 1 | 362 | (26.9) | 430 | (30.1) | 554 | (30.9) |
| 2 | 177 | (13.2) | 315 | (22.1) | 389 | (21.7) |
| 3+ | 102 | (7.6) | 366 | (25.6) | 430 | (24.0) |
* Based on AMRS records and includes face-to-face visits. † ER visits include those leading up to a hospitalization. ‡ Based on pharmacy dispensing data. Oral sulfonylurea-managed medication includes acetohexamide, chlorpropamide, glipizide, glyburide, tolazamide, and tolbutamide. §Regular self-monitoring of blood glucose is defined as 90 strips/quarter for those using insulin and 45 strips/quarter for those using oral sulfonylureas. || HbA1c test results reported only for those with at least one test. Managed without drugs n = 641; with insulin = 1,111; with oral sulfonylureas n = 1,373.