Higher patient assessed quality of chronic care is associated with lower diabetes distress among adults with early-onset type 2 diabetes: Cross-sectional survey results from the Danish DD2-study

Aim: Among adults aged 20-45 years with type 2 diabetes mellitus, we examined the perceived quality of chronic care, and its associations with (i) sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, and (ii) diabetes distress. Methods: In total, 216/460 (47%) completed a self-administered survey assessing sociodemographic characteristics, patient assessed chronic illness care (PACIC-20, scale of 1-5) and diabetes distress (PAID-20, scale of 0-100), and 197 had full quality of care data for assessment. We obtained clinical data from national registers and used linear and logistic regression models to examine associations. Results: The mean (SD) PACIC score was 2.6 (0.9) (score range 1-5). Lower PACIC scores were associated with female sex and current unemployment, and with receiving diabetes care in general practice compared with hospital outpatient clinics [mean difference: -0.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) (-0.7 to -0.2) ]. People with upper quartile PACIC scores were less likely to report high diabetes distress compared with people with lower quartile PACIC scores [odds Ratio 0.3 95%CI (0.1-0.8)]. Conclusion: Higher quality of care was associated with lower diabetes distress among adults with early onset type 2 diabetes mellitus, but respondents reported less than optimal quality in several core areas of chronic care. (C) 2020 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.