Table 1.
Descriptive analysis of patient reported process and outcome indicators at baseline and follow-up
| Process indicators | DMP-patients (baseline) | Patients not enrolled (baseline) | p (baseline) | DMP-patients (follow-up) | Patients not enrolled (follow-up) | p (follow-up) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in training program for diabetes | 322 (72.7%) | 222 (45.1%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 250 (71.8%) | 181 (52.8%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| ≥4 encounters/year with physician | 398 (98.8%) | 361 (75.5%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 321 (92.5%) | 280 (82.8%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| Annual referral to an ophthalmologist | 411 (93.0%) | 380 (78.2%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 318 (92.4%) | 281 (83.9%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| ≥1 annual referral to a diabetologist (GP patients only) | 43 (13.1%) | 44 (10.7%) | n.s. | 24 (9.6%) | 26 (9.4%) | n.s. |
| Specialty of the attending physician: diabetologist | 113 (25.5%) | 73 (14.9%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 100 (28.6%) | 64 (18.6%) | p ≤ 0.01 |
| Annual foot examination | 380 (86.2%) | 324 (66.9%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 307 (88.2%) | 246 (73.2%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| Possession of a diabetes passport | 345 (78.1%) | 287 (59.1%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 276 (79.3%) | 210 (61.8%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| Nutritional advice given by physician | 116 (29.6%) | 98 (23.0%) | p ≤ 0.05 | 71 (25.2%) | 69 (26.7%) | n.s. |
| Physician advice given on exercising | 116 (32.9%) | 80 (22.5%) | p ≤ 0.01 | 79 (33.1%) | 66 (30.1%) | n.s. |
| Agreement upon target value for GHb | 316 (77.3%) | 295 (72.8%) | p ≤ 0.05 | 244 (79.0%) | 219 (79.3%) | n.s. |
| Agreement upon target values for blood pressure | 326 (78.2%) | 339 (76.9%) | n.s. | 255 (76.6%) | 232 (76.6%) | n.s. |
| Participation in education course for hypertension | 50 (11.3%) | 33 (6.7%) | p ≤ 0.05 | 43 (12.3%) | 33 (9.7%) | n.s. |
| Outcome indicators | ||||||
| Low self-rated health (1-4 on a 6-point scale) | 171 (38.6%) | 215 (43.7%) | n.s. | 149 (42.6%) | 147 (42.6%) | n.s. |
| (1-4 on a 6-point scale) | 64 (14.5%) | 74 (15.4%) | n.s. | 52 (14.8%) | 60 (17.5%) | n.s. |
| High burden of therapy (5-6 on a 6-point scale) | 3 (0.7%) | 11 (2.2%) | n.s. | 4 (1.1%) | 4 (1.2%) | n.s. |
| High self-rated ability to cope with disease (5-6 on a 6-point scale) | 419 (94.8%) | 445 (91.9%) | n.s. | 319 (92.2%) | 319 (93.3%) | n.s. |
| High self-reported therapy adherence (5-6 on a 6-point scale) | 323 (72.9%) | 349 (70.9%) | n.s. | 244 (69.7%) | 240 (70.0%) | n.s. |
| Mean GHb (%) | 6.9 (SD: 0.9; n = 330) | 6.9 (SD: 1.3; n = 287) | n.s. | 6.9 (SD: 0.9; n = 245) | 6.8 (SD:1.1; n = 200) | n.s. |
| high GHb [> 7.5% (> 8.5% for age 75+)] | 72 (21.8%) | 52 (18.1%) | n.s. | 46 (18.8%) | 35 (17.5%) | n.s. |
| Mean blood pressure (mm Hg) | 132/79 (SD: 14.0/8.7; n = 360) | 135/80 (SD: 14.9/9.1; n = 398/397) | p ≤ 0.05 | 133/80 (SD: 13.9/8.2 n = 293) | 133.9/81 (SD: 14.3/9.5 n = 276) | n.s. |
| high blood pressure (≥ 140/90 mm Hg) | 137 (38.1%) | 186 (46.7) | p ≤ 0.05 | 129 (44%) | 116 (42%) | n.s. |
| Mean body mass index (kg/m2) | 29.7 (SD: 4.8; n = 440) | 29.4 (SD: 5.3; n = 482) | n.s. | 29.5 (SD: 9.1 n = 351) | 28.3 (SD: 10.9 n = 342) | n.s. |
| high BMI (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) | 188 (42.7%) | 191 (39.6%) | n.s. | 149 (42.5%) | 137 (40.1%) | n.s. |
| Diabetic foot lesions | 45 (10.2%) | 49 (10.0%) | n.s. | 29 (8.3%) | 29 (8.5%) | n.s. |
| Present symptoms of diabetes | 153 (36.1%) | 173 (35.8%) | n.s. | 108 (31.1%) | 126 (36.8%) | n.s. |
| Current smoker | 74 (16.7%) | 82 (16.6%) | n.s. | 56 (16.0%) | 61 (17.7%) | n.s. |
| Hypoglycemia in the past 12 months | 26 (5.9%) | 29 (6.0%) | n.s. | 23 (6.6%) | 12 (3.6%) | n.s. |
| Insulin treatment | 153 (34.5%) | 129 (26.3%) | p ≤ 0.01 | 130 (37%) | 107 (31%) | n.s. |
| Increased cardiovascular risk [GHb ≥ 7.5% (≥ 8.5% for age 75+) and/or blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mm Hg] | 186 (56.9%) | 221 (66.2%) | ≤0.05 | 147 (56.5%) | 136 (60.2%) | n.s. |
| Not knowing GHb test results | 72 (16.3%) | 166 (33.9%) | p ≤ 0.001 | 59 (16.9%) | 97 (28.3%) | p ≤ 0.001 |
| Not knowing blood pressure values | 39 (8.8%) | 50 (10.1%) | p ≤ 0.05 | 13 (3.7%) | 30 (8.7%) | p ≤ 0.01 |
n.s. = statistically not significant (p > 0.05)