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ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the gender differences and the disparities between infected and noninfected patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) regarding patient‐reported experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Norway. Method Register study using questionnaires sent electronically to patients with T2D, June 2022. The questionnaire included 82 questions covering COVID‐19 disease, symptoms, medications, comorbidities, hospital care, possibility of working from home and information received from health authorities. Clinical and demographic data were collected from the Norwegian diabetes registry for adults. Results A total of 29,079 T2D patients participated, of whom 38.1% were women. Patients infected with COVID‐19 were younger, had shorter diabetes duration and less comorbidities than noninfected (p

Background Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and poor glycaemic control are at high risk of developing microvascular and macrovascular complications. The aim of this study was to determine if a quality improvement collaborative (QIC) initiated by the Norwegian Diabetes Register for adults (NDR-A) could reduce the proportion of patients with T1DM with poor glycaemic control (defined as glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c)≥75 mmol/mol) and reduce mean HbA1c at participating clinics compared with 14 control clinics.Method Multicentre study with controlled before and after design. Representatives of 13 diabetes outpatient clinics (n=5145 patients with T1DM) in the intervention group attended four project meetings during an 18-month QIC. They were required to identify areas requiring improvement at their clinic and make action plans. Continuous feedback on HbA1c outcomes was provided by NDR-A during the project. In total 4084 patients with type 1 diabetes attended the control clinics.Results Between 2016 and 2019, the overall proportion of patients with T1DM and HbA1c≥75 mmol/mol in the intervention group were reduced from 19.3% to 14.1% (p

ObjectiveTo study the fear of Covid 19 infection among Norwegian patients with type 1 diabetes.Research design and methodsFear of Covid 19 scale, a validated scale assessing the fear of Covid 19, was sent electronically to 16255 patients with type 1 diabetes in May 2021. The items are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (total scores from 7 to 35). The higher the score, the greater the fear.Results10145 patients, 52% of the Norwegian adult type 1 diabetes population, completed the questionnaire. The mean total fear score was 13.8 (SD 5.8). Women experienced more fear than men (OR 1.96), and fear increased significantly with increasing age for both genders (pConclusionAssessment of fear of Covid 19 in the type 1 diabetes population in Norway revealed an overall low fear during the third wave of infection. Patients considered to be at high risk of serious disease, such as older individuals, smokers and obese individuals expressed more fear than low risk individuals. The degree of fear was also associated with sex, ethnicity, educational/working status, glycemic control and presence of complications.

Objective: To investigate the gender differences and the disparities between infected and noninfected patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) regarding patient‐reported experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Norway. Method: Register study using questionnaires sent electronically to patients with T2D, June 2022. The questionnaire included 82 questions covering COVID‐19 disease, symptoms, medications, comorbidities, hospital care, possibility of working from home and information received from health authorities. Clinical and demographic data were collected from the Norwegian diabetes registry for adults. Results: A total of 29,079 T2D patients participated, of whom 38.1% were women. Patients infected with COVID‐19 were younger, had shorter diabetes duration and less comorbidities than noninfected (p < 0.01). Women reported significantly more anxiety, depression and fear of not getting their diabetes medication than men did. Most patients were vaccinated against COVID‐19 (98.3%), whereas approximately 60% had received seasonal flu vaccine, and only 27.2% the pneumococcal vaccine. Women described more vaccine adverse effects and long Covid symptoms. Overall, 14% experienced vaccine complications and 27.3% of infected individuals reported long Covid symptoms. 2.4% of the infected patients needed hospital admission. Patients were satisfied with the follow‐up of their diabetes, and with information from the government during the pandemic. Conclusion: Female patients were more likely to experience a prolonged Covid course, and higher degree of adverse effects from the COVID‐19 vaccine than male patients. Also, long Covid symptoms were significantly more often reported among female patients, while men were more prone to be hospitalised when infected. Hospitalised patients, both men and women, had significantly higher HbA1C than those who were not hospitalised. T2D patients had a surprisingly low pneumococcal vaccination coverage, despite recommendations in national guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the fear of Covid 19 infection among Norwegian patients with type 1 diabetes. Research design and methods: Fear of Covid 19 scale, a validated scale assessing the fear of Covid 19, was sent electronically to 16255 patients with type 1 diabetes in May 2021. The items are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (total scores from 7 to 35). The higher the score, the greater the fear. Results: 10145 patients, 52% of the Norwegian adult type 1 diabetes population, completed the questionnaire. The mean total fear score was 13.8 (SD 5.8). Women experienced more fear than men (OR 1.96), and fear increased significantly with increasing age for both genders (p<0.05). Fear increased with increasing BMI, more pronounced for men than women. Fear was positively correlated to HbA1c (Spearman rho 0.067, p<0.05), and significantly increased in patients with micro- and macrovascular complications, compared with patients without complications (p<0.05). Smokers showed increased fear compared with non-smokers, (1.59 (1.39–1.81)), and non-European patients reported more fear than Europeans (OR of 2.02 (95% CI 1.55–2.63). Conclusion: Assessment of fear of Covid 19 in the type 1 diabetes population in Norway revealed an overall low fear during the third wave of infection. Patients considered to be at high risk of serious disease, such as older individuals, smokers and obese individuals expressed more fear than low risk individuals. The degree of fear was also associated with sex, ethnicity, educational/working status, glycemic control and presence of complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To identify population, general practitioner, and practice characteristics associated with the achievement of HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol targets, and to describe variation in the achievement of risk factor control. Methods: We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of 9342 people with type 2 diabetes, 281 general practitioners and 77 general practices in Norway. Missing values (7.4%) were imputed using multiple imputation by chained equations. We used three‐level logistic regression with the achievement of HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol targets as dependent variables, and factors related to population, general practitioners, and practices as independent variables. Results: Treatment targets were achieved for HbA1c in 64%, blood pressure in 50%, and LDL cholesterol in 52% of people with type 2 diabetes, and 17% met all three targets. There was substantial heterogeneity in target achievement among general practitioners and among practices; the estimated proportion of a GPs diabetes population at target was 55–73% (10–90 percentiles) for HbA1c, 36–63% for blood pressure, and 47–57% for LDL cholesterol targets. The models explained 11%, 5% and 14%, respectively, of the total variation in the achievement of HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol targets. Use among general practitioners of a structured diabetes form was associated with 23% higher odds of achieving the HbA1c target (odds ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.47) and 17% higher odds of achieving the LDL cholesterol target (odds ratio 1.17, 95% CI 1.01–1.35). Conclusions: Clinical diabetes management is difficult, and few people meet all three risk factor control targets. The proportion of people reaching target varied among general practitioners and practices. Several population, general practitioner and practice characteristics only explained a small part of the total variation. The use of a structured diabetes form is recommended. What's new?: Only one in five of those with type 2 diabetes in primary care in Norway met all three targets for HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol.There was substantial heterogeneity in the achievement of HbA1c, blood pressure and LDL cholesterol targets among general practitioners and practices.The heterogeneity in risk factor control remained after adjustment for case mix.Detailed analysis with 12 population‐related, 10 general practitioner‐related and four practice‐related factors explained <15% of the total variation in target achievement.Most of the variation was at the population level.Young people, obese people and those with macrovascular complications achieved targets less frequently.The use of a structured diabetes form is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]