Patient factors and glycaemic control - associations and explanatory power

Diabet. Med. 29, e382–e389 (2012) Aims To investigate the association between glycaemic control and patient socio‐demographics, activation level, diabetes‐related distress, assessment of care, knowledge of target HbA1c, and self‐management behaviours, and to determine to what extent these factors explain the variance in HbA1c in a large Danish population of patients with Type 2 diabetes. Methods Cross‐sectional survey and record review of 2045 patients from a specialist diabetes clinic. Validated scales measured patient activation, self‐management behaviours, diabetes‐related emotional distress, and perceived care. The electronic patient record provided information about HbA1c, medication, body mass index, and duration of diabetes. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression models with stepwise addition of covariates. Results The response rate was 54% (n = 1081). Good glycaemic control was significantly associated with older age, higher education, higher patient activation, lower diabetes‐related emotional distress, better diet and exercise behaviours, lower body mass index, shorter duration of disease and knowledge of HbA1c targets (P