Quality of Diabetes Care in a US Manufacturing Cohort: A Comparison of Quality Indicators as Predictors of Diabetes Complications
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study examines three process measures of diabetic care and their association with four complications of diabetes - Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Heart Failure (HF), Stroke and Renal Disease (RD) - in a cohort comprised of hourly and salaried employees of a single large manufacturing company at geographically diverse regions in the United States. Quality of care was measured by adherence to consensus standards for A1C and lipid testing and screening for microalbuminuria. A retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2009 of 1,797 diabetic employees of a US manufacturer who were enrolled in the same health insurance plan. Diabetics who received all three QOCM in the baseline year were compared to diabetics who received less than three QOCM in the baseline year and were analyzed to address their association with the four complications. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to assess potential associations between diabetes QOCM and time to complication. Potential confounding risk factors included sex, age, ethnicity, income, marital status, education, smoking, diabetes severity and health comorbidity risk scores. The overall health benefits for diabetics who received all three QOCM at baseline were noteworthy; they experienced reduced risk for HF (HR 0.39, CI [.19 - .81], p = 0.0117) and RD (HR 0.48, CI [.24 - .95] p = 0.0339) compared to the people who received less than three QOCM. Results suggest that diabetics who received all three QOCM experienced lower complications and is associated with reduced complication risk - regardless of access to care and other factors. These results suggest that any improvement in screening is likely to reduce the risk of diabetes complications. This study contributes to the literature by examining adherence to recommended processes of care and patient complications together. The public health implications of this study can be used to inform the design or revision of disease management programs and process of care measures.
Author: Felicia J. Bayer
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W96543927