Racial differences in impact of coverage on diabetes self-monitoring in a health maintenance organization

Economic Simulation Modeling in Type 2 Diabetes

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This paper provides an overview of type 2 diabetes economic simulation modeling and reviews current topics of discussion and major challenges in the field.

RECENT FINDINGS

Important challenges in the field include increasing the generalizability of models and improving transparency in model reporting. To identify and address these issues, modeling groups have organized through the Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge meetings and developed tools (i.e., checklist, impact inventory) to standardize modeling methods and reporting of results. Accordingly, many newer diabetes models have begun utilizing these tools, allowing for improved comparability between diabetes models. In the last two decades, type 2 diabetes simulation models have improved considerably, due to the collaborative work performed through the Mount Hood Diabetes Challenge meetings. To continue to improve diabetes models, future work must focus on clarifying diabetes progression in racial/ethnic minorities and incorporating equity considerations into health economic analysis.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Diabetes Care and Impact of Vendor-Based Disease Management Programs

OBJECTIVE

We examined the existence of disparities in receipt of appropriate diabetes care among California's fee-for-service Medicaid beneficiaries and the effectiveness of a telephonic-based disease management program delivered by a disease management vendor on the reduction of racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes care.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We conducted an intervention-control cohort study to test the effectiveness of a 3-year-long disease management program delivered to Medicaid fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 22 to 75 with a diagnosis of diabetes in Los Angeles and Alameda counties. The outcome measures were the receipt of at least one hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test, LDL cholesterol test, and retinal examination each year. We used generalized estimating equations models with logit link to analyze the claims data for a cohort of beneficiaries in two intervention counties (n = 2,933) and eight control counties (n = 2,988) from September 2005 through August 2010.

RESULTS

Racial/ethnic disparities existed in the receipt of all three types of testing in the intervention counties before the program. African Americans (0.66; 95% CI 0.62-0.70) and Latinos (0.77; 95% CI 0.74-0.80) had lower rates of receipt for HbA1c testing than whites (0.83; 95% CI 0.81-0.85) in the intervention counties. After the intervention, the disparity among African Americans and Latinos compared with whites persisted in the intervention counties. For Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the disparity in testing rates decreased. We did not find similar disparities in the control counties.

CONCLUSIONS

This disease management program was not effective in reducing racial/ethnic disparities in diabetes care in the most racially/ethnically diverse counties in California.

Self-management, health service use and information seeking for diabetes care among Black Caribbean immigrants in Toronto

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research was to explore self-management practices and the use of diabetes information and care among Black-Caribbean immigrants with type 2 diabetes.

METHOD

The study population included Black-Caribbean immigrants and Canadian-born participants between the ages of 35 to 64 years with type 2 diabetes. Study participants were recruited from community health centres (CHCs), diabetes education centres, hospital-based diabetes clinics, the Canadian Diabetes Association and immigrant-serving organizations. A structured questionnaire was used to collect demographics and information related to diabetes status, self-management practices and the use of diabetes information and care.

RESULTS

Interviews were conducted with 48 Black-Caribbean immigrants and 54 Canadian-born participants with type 2 diabetes. Black-Caribbean immigrants were significantly more likely than the Canadian-born group to engage in recommended diabetes self-management practices (i.e. reduced fat diet, reduced carbohydrate diet, non-smoking and regular physical activity) and receive regular A1C and eye screening by a health professional. Black-Caribbean immigrant participants were significantly more likely to report receiving diabetes information and care through a community health centre (CHC) and nurses and dieticians than their Canadian-born counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

CHCs and allied health professionals play an important role in the management of diabetes in the Black-Caribbean immigrant community and may contribute to this group's favourable diabetes self-management profile and access to information and care. Additional research is necessary to confirm whether these findings are generalizable to the Black-Caribbean community in general (i.e. immigrant and non-immigrant) and to determine whether the use of CHCs and/or allied health professionals is associated with favourable outcomes in the Black-Caribbean immigrant community as well as others.

Glucose control in diabetes: the impact of racial differences on monitoring and outcomes

Type 2 diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US and is projected to increase in prevalence globally. Minorities are disproportionately affected by diabetes and data suggest that clinical outcomes consistently fall below American Diabetes Association recommendations. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine ethnic differences in self-monitoring and outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes. Medline was searched for articles published between January 1990 and January 2012 by means of a reproducible strategy. Inclusion criteria included (1) published in English, (2) targeted African Americans, Hispanic, or Asian adults, ages 18+ years with type 2 diabetes, (3) cross-sectional, cohort, or intervention study, and (4) measured change in glycemic control, BP, lipids, or quality of life by race. Twenty-two papers met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Overall, significant racial differences and barriers were found in published studies in diabetes management as it pertains to self-monitoring and outcomes. African Americans tend to consistently exhibit worse outcomes and control when compared to other minority populations and non-Hispanic Whites. In conclusion, significant racial differences and barriers exist in diabetes management as it pertains to self-monitoring and outcomes when compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Explanatory and intervention studies are needed to determine the mechanisms and mediators of these differences and strategies to reduce these disparities. In addition, more research is needed to investigate the impact of racial differences in self-monitoring and outcomes on quality of life.

A gender-centered ecological framework targeting Black men living with diabetes: integrating a "masculinity" perspective in diabetes management and education research

Blacks have traditionally experienced a disproportionate burden of diabetes in the United States. Research published from 1980 to 2008 revealed a paucity of diabetes education and management research targeting Black men. There is a paucity of published research that takes into consideration attributes of "being male," such as masculinity, and how its attributes influence diabetes self-management behaviors. This article discusses three important factors that may help explain diabetes-related disparities among Black men.These factors include absence of consistent sources of health care, lack of health insurance, and the absence of a masculinity perspective in diabetes education and management research. This article offers a gender-centered ecological framework that examines pathways between demographic factors, family functioning, knowledge and psychological health, biological health, behavioral health and medical compliance, masculinity, and diabetes-related outcomes. Recommendations for future research that consider how aspects of masculinity might lead to the identification of gender-based risk factors are presented.

Review: use of electronic medical records for health outcomes research: a literature review

This review assessed the use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems in outcomes research. We systematically searched PubMed to identify articles published from January 2000 to January 2007 involving EMR use for outpatient-based outcomes research in the United States. EMR-based outcomes research studies (n = 126) have increased sixfold since 2000. Although chronic conditions were most common, EMRs were also used to study less common diseases, highlighting the EMRs' flexibility to examine large cohorts as well as identify patients with rare diseases. Traditional multi-variate modeling techniques were the most commonly used technique to address confounding and potential selection bias. Data validation was a component in a quarter of studies, and many evaluated the EMR's ability to achieve similar results previously achieved using other data sources. Investigators using EMR data should aim for consistent terminology, focus on adequately describing their methods, and consider appropriate statistical methods to control for confounding and treatment-selection bias.

Racial differences in long-term adherence to oral antidiabetic drug therapy: a longitudinal cohort study

Background

Adherence to oral antidiabetic medications is often suboptimal. Adherence differences may contribute to health disparities for black diabetes patients, including higher microvascular event rates, greater complication-related disability, and earlier mortality.

Methods

In this longitudinal retrospective cohort study, we used 10 years of patient-level claims and electronic medical record data (1/1/1992–12/31/2001) to assess differences in short- and long-term adherence to oral antidiabetic medication among 1906 newly diagnosed adults with diabetes (26% black, 74% white) in a managed care setting in which all members have prescription drug coverage. Four main outcome measures included: (1) time from diabetes diagnosis until first prescription of oral antidiabetic medication; (2) primary adherence (time from first prescription to prescription fill); (3) time until discontinuation of oral antidiabetic medication from first prescription; and (4) long-term adherence (amount dispensed versus amount prescribed) over a 24-month follow-up from first oral antidiabetic medication prescription.

Results

Black patients were as likely as whites to initiate oral therapy and fill their first prescription, but experienced higher rates of medication discontinuation (HR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2, 2.7) and were less adherent over time. These black-white differences increased over the first six months of therapy but stabilized thereafter for patients who initiated on sulfonylureas. Significant black-white differences in adherence levels were constant throughout follow-up for patients initiated on metformin therapy.

Conclusion

Racial differences in adherence to oral antidiabetic drug therapy persist even with equal access to medication. Early and continued emphasis on adherence from initiation of therapy may reduce persistent racial differences in medication use and clinical outcomes.

The accuracy and efficacy of real-time continuous glucose monitoring sensor in patients with type 1 diabetes

BACKGROUND

The accuracy and efficacy of the Medtronic Diabetes (Northridge, CA) Real-Time (RT)-Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) sensor were analyzed in 72 subjects with type 1 diabetes.

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of 60,050 temporally paired data points (sensor and glucose meter values) obtained during the course of an outpatient ambulatory study evaluating the efficacy of a sensor-augmented pump system in adults and adolescents. Subjects uploaded sensor values and self-monitoring blood glucose data to the CareLink Clinical Application (Medtronic Diabetes) via the Internet, every 2 weeks during the course of the study.

RESULTS

The overall percentage of sensor readings within +/-20% or +/-30% agreement of reference glucose readings was 75.6% and 86.8%, respectively. The highest rate of agreement occurred in the 240-400 mg/dL range, where 79.9% of sensor readings were within +/-20% of meter values and 91.5% of sensor readings were within 30% of meter values. The mean absolute relative difference for all subjects was 15.8%, and the median absolute relative difference was 10.9%. The bias was -2.13 mg/dL. Paired glucose measurements from the RT-CGM and meter demonstrated that 95.9% of paired points in the overall subject population fell in zones A and B of the Clarke Error Grid. Consensus Error Grid Analysis established that 99.2% of paired data points were in zones A and B.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reports the accuracy of a continuous glucose sensor with a large number of paired data points (60,050). RT-CGM is safe and well tolerated and provides readings that are in close agreement with glucose meter values.

Racial differences in long-term self-monitoring practice among newly drug-treated diabetes patients in an HMO

BACKGROUND

One approach to improving outcomes for minority diabetics may be through better self-care. However, minority patients may encounter barriers to better self-care even within settings where variations in quality of care and insurance are minimized.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to evaluate racial differences in long-term glucose self-monitoring and adherence rates in an HMO using evidence-based guidelines for self-monitoring.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study using 10 years (1/1/1993-12/31/2002) of electronic medical record data was used.

PATIENTS

Patients were 1,732 insured adult diabetics of black or white race newly initiated on hypoglycemic therapy in a large multi-specialty care group practice.

MEASUREMENTS

Outcomes include incidence and prevalence of glucose self-monitoring, intensity of use, and rate of adherence to national recommended standards.

RESULTS

We found no evidence of racial differences in adjusted initiation rates of glucose self-monitoring among insulin-treated patients, but found lower rates of initiation among black patients living in low-income areas. Intensity of glucose self-monitoring remained lower among blacks than whites throughout follow-up [IRR for insulin = 0.41 (0.27-0.62); IRR for oral hypoglycemic = 0.75 (0.63, 0.90)], with both groups monitoring well below recommended standards. Among insulin-treated patients, <1% of blacks and <10% of whites were self-monitoring 3 times per day; 36% of whites and 10% of blacks were self-monitoring at least once per day.

CONCLUSIONS

Adherence to glucose self-monitoring standards was low, particularly among blacks, and racial differences in self-monitoring persisted within a health system providing equal access to services for diabetes patients. Early and continued emphasis on adherence among black diabetics may be necessary to reduce racial differences in long-term glucose self-monitoring.