Impact of general practitioner appointment frequency on disease management in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Abstract

Aims: We investigated the association between the frequency of visits to general practitioners (GPs) and the degree of disease control in patients with T2DM.

Methods: This study included patients diagnosed with T2DM who visited their GPs between 2014 and 2018. A total of 89,674 patients, accounting for 1,203,035 visits, were included. Different clinical features such as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c%), blood pressure (BP), and c-LDL levels were analyzed. Multifactorial control of T2DM was defined as HbA1c ≤ 7 %, BP ≤ 140/90 mmHg, and LDL cholesterol ≤ 100 mg/dL. Generalized Estimating Equations models were implemented in order to deal with repeated measures for the same patient.

Results: The median age of the patients is 70 years, with 52.8 % being male. An increase in the number of visits per year significantly improves the likelihood of achieving multifactorial diabetes control. Patients with more than 3-visits per year (55.6 %) have a Relative Risks (RR) of 1.258 (95 % Confidence Interval: 1.120-1.414). Frequent visits are associated with better multifactorial control and better c-LDL management. Patients visiting more than 3-times annually tend to achieve better outcomes in multifactorial and c-LDL control.

Conclusion: Increasing the frequency of primary care visits significantly enhances multifactorial and cholesterol control among T2DM patients.