Women's distinct diabetes self-management behaviours demand gender-specific diabetes research: improving chronic disease management and addressing clinical governance issues.

Abstract

Management of diabetes mellitus continues to pose challenges for primary health-care professionals, with estimates of as many as 2 million Australians requiring ongoing care. Although most cases are men, women living with diabetes have presenting concerns and self-management characteristics distinct from men. A threat to women's optimal diabetes management is being at greater risk of developing mental health conditions, especially for women with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes. In addition, complementary medicine use is highly prevalent among women and is associated with significant direct and indirect risks, which raises clinical governance issues. To date, limited gender-specific diabetes research exists that has explored women's diabetes self-management behaviours and risk profiles. We argue that this is essential to inform the design of targeted care approaches that address clinical governance issues and help health-care professionals to better support women living with diabetes.