Evaluation of the Effect and Influencing Factors of Educational Hospitalization for Diabetes

Abstract

We investigated the effect of an in-hospital diabetes education program on glycemic control at five years after hospitalization and identified factors influencing the outcomes. We examined changes in glycemic control, body weight and other metabolic factors in 180 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who visited the clinic ≥5 years after hospital admission for diabetes education. Subjects with a mean HbA1c value below 6.9 % during the 5-year post-discharge period were classified into the "satisfactory" group, while the remaining patients were assigned to the "unsatisfactory" group. We compared various clinical laboratory parameters as well as the presence or absence of complications and investigated the effects of these variables on the HbA1c values using a logistic analysis. Finally, we investigated 17 patients who discontinued their visits to the outpatient clinic. The satisfactory group comprised approximately 44 % of the total patients. The logistic analysis using the satisfactory group as the dependent variable showed a treatment-naïve status to be an independent and significant contributing factor, although there were also numerous treatment-naïve patients among those who discontinued their outpatient visits. While the long-term effects of a treatment-naïve status are numerous, continuous monitoring of this population is necessary based on the high number of patients who discontinue outpatient visits.