Younger people with Type 2 diabetes have poorer self‐care practices compared with older people: results from the Australian National Diabetes Audit

Abstract

This cross-sectional study compares the self-care practices of younger and older people with Type 2 diabetes. Data were analysed from the Australian National Diabetes Audit (ANDA) including 2552 adults with Type 2 diabetes from Australian Diabetes Centres. Pre-specified demographic and clinical variables were obtained. Self-care variables (physical activity, following dietary recommendations, medication adherence and monitoring blood glucose levels) were compared in people ≤64 and >64years of age. Mean age (±sd) of participants was 63±13years overall, 53±9years for the younger group and 73±6years for the older group. A greater proportion of younger people had HbA1c levels >53mmol/mol (>7.0%) (76% vs. 68%), reported difficulty following dietary recommendations (50% vs. 32%) and forgetting medications (37% vs. 22%) compared with older people (all P-values <0.001). A smaller proportion of younger compared with older people reported monitoring their blood glucose levels as often as recommended (60% vs. 70%, P<0.001). Similar proportions of people aged ≤64 and >64years required insulin therapy (59% vs. 57%, P=0.200). Younger age was associated with a twofold increase in the odds of not following the recommended self-care practices after adjustment for gender, smoking, insulin therapy, depression and allied health attendance (all P<0.001). Despite shorter diabetes duration, younger age was associated with worse glycaemic control and poorer diabetes self-care practices among people with Type 2 diabetes. Targeted strategies are required to optimize diabetes self-care practices and thereby glycaemic control.