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Perceived Difficulty of Diabetes Treatment in Primary Care: Does it Differ by Patient Ethnicity?

Medical University of South Carolina, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, McClennan Banks Adult Primary Care Clinic, 4th Floor, 326 Calhoun Street, PO Box25010, Charleston, SC 29425 egedel{at}musc.edu

Yvonne Miohel, PhD

Department of Biometry and Epidemiology and College of Nursing, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to determine the attitudes of internal medicine physicians toward treating diabetes in different patient ethnic groups and compared with treating common chronic medical conditions in primary care.

METHODS

The survey instrument was administered to 55 internal medicine physicians. An e-mail message was sent to each physician with a hyperlink to a site where the survey could be completed. The instrument was a modified, quantitative 10-point scale designed to measure attitudes regarding the difficulty of treating diabetes.

RESULTS

Diabetes was perceived to be more difficult to treat than hyperlipidemia and angina. African Americans with diabetes were perceived to be more difficult to treat than Caucasian patients. Difficulty in treating diabetes was comparable to that for hypertension, arthritis, and congestive heart failure. Physicians were confident about treatment efficacy for diabetes and changing diabetes outcomes, but not about the adequacy of time and resources for diabetes treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Diabetes was perceived as a difficult disease to treat, African American patients were more difficult to treat, and time and resources were inadequate for diabetes treatment. To improve diabetes care, there is a need to address these attitudes and concerns of internal medicine physicians.

The Diabetes Educator, Vol. 27, No. 5, 678-684 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/014572170102700508


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