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Diabetes self-management education and support enhance self-efficacy and promote self-management behaviors essential for diabetes management. We investigated the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the association between diabetes education or care coordination and self-care activities. We surveyed a population-based sample of adults with type 2 diabetes (19-64 years of age) covered by Alabama Medicaid. We examined whether receipt of diabetes education or care coordination were associated with improvements in diabetes self-care activities. We then examined if improvements were mediated by self-efficacy. Models were adjusted for age, gender, race, education, insulin use, diabetes duration, and depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 1,318 participants were included in the study (mean age = 52.9 years, SD = 9.6; 72.5% female, 56.4% Black, 3.1% Hispanic). Diabetes education was associated with increases in self-care activity scores related to general diet, physical activity, glucose self-monitoring, and foot care; care coordination was associated with glucose self-monitoring. In addition, mediation analysis models confirmed that improvements in self-efficacy led to improved self-care activities scores, mediating the association of diabetes education and self-care activities. Conclusions: Diabetes education and self-efficacy were associated with better self-care. Receiving diabetes education led to a higher likelihood of engaging in self-care activities, driven in part by increases in self-efficacy. Future interventions that aim to improve diabetes self-management behaviors can benefit from targeting self-efficacy constructs and from the integration of diabetes education in the care coordination structure.

OBJECTIVE: We examined longitudinal associations between emotional distress (specifically, depressive symptoms and diabetes distress) and medication adherence in Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE), a large randomized controlled trial comparing four glucose-lowering medications added to metformin in adults with relatively recent-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Emotional Distress Substudy assessed medication adherence, depressive symptoms, and diabetes distress in 1,739 GRADE participants via self-completed questionnaires administered biannually up to 3 years. We examined baseline depressive symptoms and diabetes distress as predictors of medication adherence over 36 months. Bidirectional visit-to-visit relationships were also examined. Treatment satisfaction, beliefs about medication, diabetes care self-efficacy, and perceived control over diabetes were evaluated as mediators of longitudinal associations. RESULTS: At baseline, mean ± SD age of participants (56% of whom were White, 17% Hispanic/Latino, 18% Black, and 66% male) was 58.0 ± 10.2 years, diabetes duration 4.2 ± 2.8 years, HbA1c 7.5% ± 0.5%, and medication adherence 89.9% ± 11.1%. Higher baseline depressive symptoms and diabetes distress were independently associated with lower adherence over 36 months (P < 0.001). Higher depressive symptoms and diabetes distress at one visit predicted lower adherence at the subsequent 6-month visit (P < 0.0001) but not vice versa. Treatment assignment did not moderate relationships. Patient-reported concerns about diabetes medications mediated the largest percentage (11.9%–15.5%) of the longitudinal link between emotional distress and adherence. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive symptoms and diabetes distress both predict lower adherence to glucose-lowering medications over time among adults with T2DM. Addressing emotional distress and concerns about anticipated negative effects of taking these treatments may be important to support diabetes treatment adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated whether adding basal insulin to metformin in adults with early type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) would increase emotional distress relative to other treatments. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE) of adults with T2DM of <10 years' duration, HbA1c 6.8–8.5%, and taking metformin monotherapy randomly assigned participants to add insulin glargine U-100, sulfonylurea glimepiride, the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist liraglutide, or the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor sitagliptin. The Emotional Distress Substudy enrolled 1,739 GRADE participants (mean [SD] age 58.0 [10.2] years, 32% female, 56% non-Hispanic White, 18% non-Hispanic Black, 17% Hispanic) and assessed diabetes distress and depressive symptoms every 6 months. Analyses examined differences at 1 year and over the 3-year follow-up. RESULTS: Across treatments, diabetes distress (−0.24, P < 0.0001) and depressive symptoms (−0.67, P < 0.0001) decreased over 1 year. Diabetes distress was lower at 1 year for the glargine group than for the other groups combined (−0.10, P = 0.002). Diabetes distress was also lower for liraglutide than for glimepiride or sitagliptin (−0.10, P = 0.008). Over the 3-year follow-up, there were no significant group differences in total diabetes distress; interpersonal diabetes distress remained lower for those assigned to liraglutide. No significant differences were observed for depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to expectations, this randomized trial found no evidence for a deleterious effect of basal insulin on emotional distress. Glargine lowered diabetes distress modestly at 1 year rather than increasing it. Liraglutide also reduced diabetes distress at 1 year. Results can inform treatment decisions for adults with early T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether baseline levels of depressive symptoms and diabetes-specific distress are associated with glycemic control in Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Study (GRADE), a large randomized controlled trial comparing the metabolic effects of four common glucose-lowering medications when combined with metformin in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The primary and secondary outcomes were defined as an HbA1c value ≥7%, subsequently confirmed, and an HbA1c value >7.5%, subsequently confirmed, respectively. Separate Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between baseline levels of each exposure of interest (depressive symptoms measured with the eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire and diabetes distress measured with the Diabetes Distress Scale) and the subsequent risk of metabolic outcomes. RESULTS: This substudy included 1,739 participants (56% of whom were non-Hispanic White, 18% non-Hispanic Black, 17% Hispanic, and 68% male; mean [SD] age 58.0 [10.2] years, diabetes duration 4.2 [2.8] years, and HbA1c 7.5% [0.48%]). A total of 1,157 participants reached the primary outcome, with time to event of 2.1 years on average, while 738 participants reached the secondary outcome at 3 years on average. With adjustment for sex, race/ethnicity, treatment group, baseline age, duration of T2DM, BMI, and HbA1c, there were no significant associations between the depressive symptoms or diabetes distress and the subsequent risk of the primary or secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that, at least for individuals with diabetes of relatively short duration, baseline levels of emotional distress are not associated with glycemic control over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Continuity of care measures are widely used to evaluate the quality of health care delivery, but which visits are included vary across studies. Our objective was to determine how the provider specialties included affect continuity values, year-to-year stability, and association with emergency department (ED) visits. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study of Alabama Medicaid administrative data. METHODS: We included beneficiaries with diabetes who had at least 3 outpatient visits in each of 2018 and 2019 (N = 9578). We defined 3 provider groupings: all providers, diabetes-broad (primary care, cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, ophthalmology, nephrology, and psychiatry), and diabetes-narrow (primary care and endocrinology). Continuity of care was calculated using the Continuity of Care Index (COCI) for each provider grouping. We compared correlation between measures and from year to year using Spearman correlations, and we used multivariable logistic regression to determine association with ED visits. RESULTS: The mean COCI was 0.54 using visits with all providers, 0.64 with diabetes-broad providers, and 0.83 with diabetes-narrow providers. COCI with diabetes-narrow providers was moderately correlated with the broader sets of providers (Spearman ρ, 0.52-0.65). Comparing each participant's COCI in 2018 with that in 2019, the mean intraperson difference was similar (0.16-0.22), and correlation was moderate (Spearman ρ, 0.41-0.47) for each measure. COCI had similar weak association with ED visits using each provider grouping (odds ratio, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-0.99 for each 0.1-unit difference in COCI). CONCLUSIONS: Continuity values differed substantially depending on which provider specialties were included. The importance of this variation is uncertain, as continuity was weakly associated with ED visits using each of the measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes self-management education and support enhance self-efficacy and promote self-management behaviors essential for diabetes management. We investigated the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the association between diabetes education or care coordination and self-care activities. We surveyed a population-based sample of adults with type 2 diabetes (19–64 years of age) covered by Alabama Medicaid. We examined whether receipt of diabetes education or care coordination were associated with improvements in diabetes self-care activities. We then examined if improvements were mediated by self-efficacy. Models were adjusted for age, gender, race, education, insulin use, diabetes duration, and depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 1,318 participants were included in the study (mean age = 52.9 years, SD = 9.6; 72.5% female, 56.4% Black, 3.1% Hispanic). Diabetes education was associated with increases in self-care activity scores related to general diet, physical activity, glucose self-monitoring, and foot care; care coordination was associated with glucose self-monitoring. In addition, mediation analysis models confirmed that improvements in self-efficacy led to improved self-care activities scores, mediating the association of diabetes education and self-care activities. Conclusions: Diabetes education and self-efficacy were associated with better self-care. Receiving diabetes education led to a higher likelihood of engaging in self-care activities, driven in part by increases in self-efficacy. Future interventions that aim to improve diabetes self-management behaviors can benefit from targeting self-efficacy constructs and from the integration of diabetes education in the care coordination structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unknown whether observational studies evaluating the association between antidiabetic medications and mortality adequately account for frailty. Our objectives were to evaluate if frailty was a potential confounder in the relationship between antidiabetic medication regimen and mortality and how well administrative and clinical electronic health record (EHR) data account for frailty.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a single Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare system of 500 hospitalizations-the majority due to heart failure-of Veterans who received regular VHA care and initiated type 2 diabetes treatment from 2001 to 2008. We measured frailty using a modified frailty index (FI, >0.21 frail). We obtained antidiabetic medication regimen and time-to-death from administrative sources. We compared FI among patients on different antidiabetic regimens. Stepwise Cox proportional hazards regression estimated time-to-death by demographic, administrative, clinical EHR, and FI data.Results: Median FI was 0.22 (interquartile range 0.18, 0.27). Frailty differed across antidiabetic regimens (p < .001). An FI increase of 0.05 was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.32, 1.60). Cox proportional hazards model for time-to-death including demographic, administrative, and clinical EHR data had a c-statistic of 0.70; adding FI showed marginal improvement (c-statistic 0.72).Conclusions: Frailty was associated with antidiabetic regimen and death, and may confound that relationship. Demographic, administrative, and clinical EHR data, commonly used to balance differences among exposure groups, performed moderately well in assessing risk of death, with minimal gain from adding frailty. Study design and analytic techniques can help minimize potential confounding by frailty in observational studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Results of a study to identify medication history technician (MHT) programs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and to evaluate the personnel, structure, and scope of such programs are reported. Methods. Specially trained pharmacy technicians can take accurate patient medication histories and contribute to the medication reconciliation process. An environmental scan of MHT programs within VHA was conducted via an email query of pharmacy personnel. Semistructured interviews of personnel at each responding site (an MHT, a pharmacist, or both) were conducted. Results. Ten VHA sites had existing MHT programs; the earliest was initiated in 2010. Sites employed from 1 to 4 MHTs, who most commonly worked in the inpatient setting (7 sites). At most sites (9), MHTs obtained a "best possible medication history" through systematic collection of medication information using 2 reliable sources, such as patients, caregivers, and medical records. Survey respondents at all sites reported benefits of MHT programs, including dedicated time to obtain medication histories, allowing for more effective use of pharmacists' time. Six sites were eager to increase the reach of their programs. MHT training, oversight, and quality assurance varied across the sites. The survey results indicated that there are opportunities nationally--within and outside VHA--to develop standardized training, competency assessments, and quality assurance measures for MHT programs. Conclusion. Ten VHA sites with MHT programs were identified. MHTs most commonly worked in inpatient settings as part of admission medication reconciliation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe patterns of care use for adult Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes and the association between primary care utilization and Ambulatory Care Sensitive (ACS) diabetes hospitalizations. Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzes Alabama Medicaid claims data from January 2010 to April 2018 for 52,549 covered adults ages 19 to 64 with diabetes. Individuals were characterized by demographics, comorbidities, and health care use including primary, specialty, mental health, pharmaceutical, laboratory and hospital care. Characteristics of those with and without any ACS diabetes hospitalization are reported. A set of 118,758 observations was created, pairing information on primary care use in one year with ACS hospitalizations in the following year. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the impact of primary care use in one year on the occurrence of an ACS hospitalization in the following year. Results: One third of the cohort had at least one ACS diabetes hospitalization over their observed periods; hospital users tended to have multiple ACS hospitalizations. Hospital users had more comorbidities and pharmaceutical and other types of care use than those with no ACS hospitalizations. Controlling for other types of care use, comorbidities and demographics, having a primary care visit in one year was significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of ACS hospitalization in the following year (adjusted odds ratio comparing 1-2 primary care visits versus none 0.79, 95% confidence interval 0.73-0.85). Conclusions: Program and population health interventions that increase access to primary care can have a beneficial effect of reducing excess inpatient hospital use for Medicaid covered adults with diabetes. Disclosure: J.M. Bronstein: None. L. Huang: None. A.A. Agne: None. F.L. Mondesir: None. C.A. Presley: None. K.R. Riggs: None. M. Pisu: None. E.B. Levitan: Consultant; Self; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Research Support; Self; Amgen Inc. A. Cherrington: None. Funding: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]