Table 1.
Baseline patient, physician and health care system characteristics
| Baseline characteristic | All patients (N = 2528) | Lower‐middle‐income economies (N = 631) | Upper‐middle‐income economies (N = 788) | High‐income economies (N = 1109) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, median years (IQR) | 61.0 (54.0‐68.0) | 58.0 (52.0‐64.0) | 61.0 (54.0‐68.0) | 64.0 (56.0‐71.0)** |
| Female gender, n (%) | 1270 (50.2) | 283 (44.8) | 469 (59.5) | 518 (46.7) |
| Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, n (%) | 497 (19.7) | 5 (0.8) | 282 (35.8) | 210 (18.9)** |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| Duration of diabetes, median years (IQR) | 11.4 (6.2‐17.0) | 10.6 (5.2‐16.5) | 11.0 (6.1‐16.2) | 12.1 (7.2‐17.8)** |
| Time since insulin initiation, median years (IQR) | 1.0 (0.0‐4.0) | 1.0 (0.0‐2.0) | 1.0 (0.0‐3.0) | 2.0 (0.0‐5.0)** |
| BMI, median kg/m2 (IQR) | 28.3 (25.1‐32.4) | 26.7 (23.9‐29.7) | 28.0 (24.9‐32.2) | 30.1 (26.3‐34.3)** |
| Microvascular complication, n (%) | 1105 (46.1) | 224 (36.7) | 301 (41.4) | 580 (54.7)** |
| Macrovascular complication, n (%) | 609 (25.2) | 83 (13.4) | 212 (28.9) | 314 (29.7)** |
| ≥1 hypoglycaemic episode in last month, n (%) | 507 (23.0) | 85 (14.2) | 135 (20.3) | 287 (30.4)** |
| Baseline HbA1c level, median % (IQR) | 7.8 (6.9‐8.9) | 8.2 (7.5‐9.6) | 7.5 (6.5‐8.5) | 7.8 (7.0‐8.8)* |
| Insulin type taken at baseline | ||||
| Basal only, n (%) | 1385 (54.8) | 193 (30.6) | 428 (54.3) | 764 (68.9)** |
| Prandial only, n (%) | 76 (3.0) | 15 (2.4) | 29 (3.7) | 32 (2.9) |
| Mixed only, n (%) | 924 (36.6) | 405 (64.2) | 288 (36.5) | 231 (20.8)** |
| Combination, n (%) | 143 (5.7) | 18 (2.9) | 43 (5.5) | 82 (7.4)** |
| Oral antidiabetic medication taken at | ||||
| baseline, n (%) | 1623 (64.2) | 540 (85.6) | 316 (40.1) | 767 (69.2)** |
| HbA1c target | ||||
| Individualized HbA1c target, median % (IQR) | 7.0 (6.5‐7.0) | 7.0 (7.0‐7.0) | 6.5 (6.5‐7.0) | 7.0 (6.5‐7.0) |
| Physician characteristics | ||||
| Endocrinology physician specialty, n (%) | 1129 (68.9) | 450 (79.5) | 297 (75.2) | 382 (56.4)** |
| Years physician has treated patients with diabetes, median (IQR) | 14 (10‐21) | 13 (11‐20) | 12 (9‐15) | 20 (12‐25)** |
| Number of diabetes patients treated in last month, median (IQR) | 200 (84‐400) | 350 (200‐500) | 100 (30‐200) | 200 (80‐500)** |
| Minutes physician spends with patients, median (IQR) | 20 (15‐35) | 20 (15‐45) | 40 (20‐60) | 15 (10‐25)** |
| Healthcare system characteristic | ||||
| Public insurance type, n (%) | 1309 (55.3) | 111 (18.1) | 546 (73.7) | 652 (64.2)** |
| Presence of diabetes support service, n (%) | 1473 (89.9) | 555 (97.7) | 326 (82.5) | 592 (87.7)** |
| Patient‐reported patient and physician characteristics | ||||
| Diabetes Knowledge Test score (range 0‐9), median (IQR) | 5.0 (3.0‐6.0) | 4.0 (3.0‐5.0) | 6.0 (4.0‐7.0) | 5.0 (3.0‐6.0)** |
| Diabetes Distress Scale (range 1‐6), median (IQR) | 1.9 (1.3‐3.1) | 1.9 (1.3‐3.4) | 1.9 (1.4‐3.1) | 1.8 (1.4‐2.8)* |
| Interpersonal Process of Care (range 1‐5) | ||||
| Compassionate and respectful (higher = better), median (IQR) | 4.2 (3.6‐5.0) | 4.0 (3.4‐4.8) | 4.0 (3.6‐4.8) | 4.4 (3.8‐5.0)** |
| Discrimination (higher = worse), median (IQR) | 1.0 (1.0‐2.0) | 1.5 (1.0‐2.3) | 1.0 (1.0‐1.8) | 1.0 (1.0‐1.5)** |
| Elicited concerns (higher = better), median (IQR) | 4.0 (3.3‐5.0) | 4.3 (3.7‐5.0) | 4.0 (3.0‐4.7) | 4.3 (3.3‐5.0) |
| Explained results (higher = better), median (IQR) | 4.0 (3.3‐4.8) | 4.0 (3.3‐4.8) | 4.0 (3.5‐4.8) | 4.3 (3.3‐5.0)* |
| Patient‐centred decision making (higher = better), median (IQR) | 3.5 (2.5‐4.3) | 3.5 (2.3‐4.3) | 3.8 (2.5‐4.3) | 3.5 (2.3‐4.5)* |
| Hurried communication (higher = worse), median (IQR) | 1.2 (1.0‐2.0) | 1.2 (1.0‐1.8) | 1.4 (1.0‐2.0) | 1.2 (1.0‐1.8) |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; HbA1c, glycated haemoglobin; IQR, interquartile range.
Median + interquartile range unless otherwise noted.
*
P < 0.05.
**
P < 0.001; P values for trend calculated by Spearman's correlation for continuous variables and the Cochran‐Armitage test for categorical variables.