Factors affecting glycemic control in type 2 diabetics and diabetics’ attitude towards the disease

Abstract

Background: The International Diabetes Federation indicates that Turkey is among the first five countries with the highest rate of diabetes in terms of both prevalence and population. Objective: This cross-sectional study aims to determine the factors that affect glycemic controls, and attitudes of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients. Methods: This study included patients who visited the internal medicine and endocrinology polyclinics of the hospitals in three different regions of Turkey during September and December of 2015. Regression analysis was carried out for independent groups to analyze the relationships between the variables. Results: The present study indicated that insulin treatment, health perception, and duration of diabetes affected glycemic control and explained 17.0% of the total variance, while insulin treatment and coexistence of other chronic diseases affected diabetes attitudes and explained 4.0% of the total variance. Type 2 diabetes patients had more positive attitudes toward diabetes. Conclusion: In addition to diabetes, coexistence of a chronic disease negatively affected patients’ attitudes towards their disease. A longer duration of type 2 diabetes, insulin treatment and patients’ perception that they had poor health were found to be related to a higher level of HbA1c in the patients.