Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2018 Aug;35(8):1087-1095.
doi: 10.1111/dme.13660. Epub 2018 Jun 1.

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

N Nanayakkara  1   2 , A J Pease  1   2 , S Ranasinha  1 , N Wischer  1   3 , S Andrikopoulos  1   3 , B de Courten  1   2 , S Zoungas  1   2   4
Affiliations
Comparative Study

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

N Nanayakkara et al. Diabet Med. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

Aim: This cross-sectional study compares the self-care practices of younger and older people with Type 2 diabetes.

Methods: 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 > 64 years of age.

Results: Mean age (± sd) of participants was 63 ± 13 years overall, 53 ± 9 years for the younger group and 73 ± 6 years for the older group. A greater proportion of younger people had HbA1c levels > 53 mmol/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 > 64 years 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).

Conclusions: 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Ogurtsova K, da Rocha Fernandes JD, Huang Y, Linnenkamp U, Guariguata L, Cho NH et al. IDF Diabetes Atlas: global estimates for the prevalence of diabetes for 2015 and 2040. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2017; 128: 40-50.
    1. Boren SA, Gunlock TL, Schaefer J, Albright A. Reducing risks in diabetes self-management: a systematic review of the literature. Diabetes Educ 2007; 33: 1053-1077; discussion 78-79.
    1. Shrivastava SR, Shrivastava PS, Ramasamy J. Role of self-care in management of diabetes mellitus. J Diabetes Metab Disord 2013; 12: 14.
    1. Lalic NM, Lalic K, Jotic A, Stanojevic D, Zivojinovic D, Janicijevic A et al. The impact of structured self-monitoring of blood glucose combined with intensive education on HbA1c levels, hospitalizations, and quality-of-life parameters in insulin-treated patients with diabetes at primary care in Serbia. J Diabetes Sci Technol 2016; 1932296816681323.
    1. Centers of Disease Control. Prevention. Strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality from diabetes through health-care system interventions and diabetes self-management education in community settings. A report on recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services. MMWR Recomm Rep 2001; 50: 1-15.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources