PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to characterize the education that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receive, and to identify differences as regards the presence of insulin… Click to show full abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of the present study was to characterize the education that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receive, and to identify differences as regards the presence of insulin therapy or not. METHODS This crossover, multicentre and descriptive study involved 1066 Spanish physicians who completed a questionnaire on Internet. RESULTS The physicians that responded had a mean of 26.0 years of experience in healthcare, and mainly worked in a walk-in clinic in an urban area. Physicians rated the level of patient knowledge about their disease on a 5.0 point-scale. Fifty percent of them indicated that they spent between 15 and 30min in educating patients at the time of diagnosis. Previous control with HbA1c>9%, presence of microvascular complications, and a low socio-cultural level, were factors associated with spending more time in education. CONCLUSION This is the first study designed to evaluate the education provided to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from Spain. The time spent and the individualization of the education are important factors associated with better long-term control of the disease, and thus with the effectiveness of the clinical management.
               
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