Experience of Patients with Diabetes and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors with Health Professionals and Healthcare in Spain.

Domingo Orozco-Beltrán,Flora López-Simarro,José Escribano-Serrano,Antón Gómez-García,Karine Ferreira De Campos,Marta Cedenilla-Horcajuelo,Gonzalo Fernández,Sergio Cinza-Sanjurjo

doi:10.3390/jcm10132831

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate the experience of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) with healthcare received in Spain. This was a retrospective, observational study in patients with T2DM cared for in primary healthcare (PHC) centers. A cross-sectional analysis of the patients’ experience data was performed using the Instrument for the Evaluation of the Experience of Chronic Patients (IEXPAC). A total of 475 patients with T2DM were recruited from 36 PHC centers, of which 248 (52.2%) completed the IEXPAC questionnaire. The IEXPAC total mean score (range 0–10) was 7 points, with an average “new relational model” score of 2.5 points. The mean continuity of care score after hospital discharge was 6.2 points. The results showed that 8% of the patients always or almost always used the internet to check their medical history, appointments or other data from their healthcare service, and 15% responded that healthcare professionals always or almost always informed them of forums or other reliable internet sites to obtain information about their illness. The study results show that there is a wide margin for improvement in the experience of patients with T2DM with healthcare in Spain, especially regarding the information patients receive or can obtain.

Highlights

The presence of multiple chronic diseases in the same patient has a significant impact on the physical, mental and social well-being of the patient [1,2,3].In addition, multimorbidity increases the complexity of healthcare [4], resulting in a worse quality of care [5].In Spain, diabetes has an overall prevalence of 13.8% [6], reaching 19% in primary care centers [7]
We present the results of the experience of diabetic patients with healthcare services in a study initially intended to evaluate the prevalence of good adherence to antidiabetic, antihypertensive and lipid-lowering medication in patients with type 2 diabetes and the presence of comorbidities such as hypertension and dyslipidemia
Study Design and Study Population. This was a retrospective, observational study conducted by 80 primary care physicians who had to recruit five consecutive patients during a single study-inclusion visit; the results shown are those relating to a cross-sectional analysis

Summary

Introduction

The presence of multiple chronic diseases in the same patient (so-called multimorbidity) has a significant impact on the physical, mental and social well-being of the patient [1,2,3].In addition, multimorbidity increases the complexity of healthcare [4], resulting in a worse quality of care [5].In Spain, diabetes has an overall prevalence of 13.8% [6], reaching 19% in primary care centers [7]. The presence of multiple chronic diseases in the same patient (so-called multimorbidity) has a significant impact on the physical, mental and social well-being of the patient [1,2,3]. Multimorbidity increases the complexity of healthcare [4], resulting in a worse quality of care [5]. In Spain, diabetes has an overall prevalence of 13.8% [6], reaching 19% in primary care centers [7]. The prevalence of diabetes seems to be constantly growing in our environment [8], and diabetes is, along with hypertension, one of the most multimorbid chronic diseases [9]. Similar results have been reported in other studies in our setting [11]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion