Authors: Yelena Sahakian, Kirstin Krzyzewski, Liam Herrebout, Monica Yanni, Bushra Mapara, Druti Shukla, Tehreem Khaliq, Hafsa Rahman, Lejla Cukovic.
Background: Exercise routines, diet management, education and Medication Therapy Management (MTM) have shown to improve glycemic control, lower blood pressure and body weight. While the majority of patients are on some form of weight management, many do not receive professional guidance to create their diet plan.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if the utilization of type 2 diabetes mellitus prevention services were impacted by patient and physician characteristics in visits to ambulatory providers in the United States.
Findings: A total of 1,932 patients with a primary diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were extracted from the 2017 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey database, collected by the National Center of Health Statistics. The patients’ age, sex, race, gender, region, insurance and physician characteristics were among the demographic variables studied. The prevalence of lifestyle preventive services, including exercise therapy, nutrition therapy, patient education or counseling, were analyzed. Patients older than 61 years and white patients were offered more exercise therapy than their comparable demographics. The southern region of the U.S. and patients with Medicaid or state insured plans were offered and utilized the most exercise therapy, nutrition therapy and education. Family practice physicians and internists defined as primary care physicians offered the most exercise therapy, nutrition therapy and education services. Majority of the studied population were not offered exercise therapy, nutrition therapy, or education services, indicating the need for more preventative lifestyle services.
Conclusions: Overall, the findings of this study revealed that there was a significant difference in the utilization and offering of preventive resources amongst various demographic groups and physician characteristics. This confirms the prevalence of disparities in the U.S. Healthcare System and calls for the need to narrow this gap both at the policy and community level.
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