A cross-sectional survey of self-perceived health status and metabolic control values in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Background: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing worldwide. Diabetes and other chronic disorders play an important role in how patients perceive their health status, this perception being an important component of general health.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine self-perceived health status and metabolic control in patients with type 2 diabetes and to understand the relationship between perceived health status and metabolic control in diabetic participants.

Design: This is a cross-sectional survey.

Setting: The research population was diabetes sufferers registered with the Turkish Diabetes Society in Denizli Province, Turkey.

Participants: A convenience sample composed of 110 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The research data were collected using three tools. The first of these was a "Socio-demographic Data Form" to gather information on the diabetes patients. The second was a survey on the patients' self-perceived health (how do rate your state of health in general) in which the patients were asked to rate their own health in one of five categories: very good, good, fair, bad and very bad. For the statistical analysis, the study group was divided into two groups: "good", consisting of those who classified their health as either very good or good; and "poor", those who gave other responses. The third type of data was collected by measuring metabolic control outcomes [glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1C)), fasting blood sugar (FBS), non-fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and triglycerides] for each participant.

Results: Approximately half of the diabetic participants surveyed have poor self-perceived health. In terms of the values of HbA(1C), an important indicator of metabolic control levels, it was found that only 24.5% of the participants surveyed had good metabolic control. There was found to be a statistically significant difference between self-perceived health and levels of HbA(1C); 68% of participants who had high HbA(1C) values evaluated their health as good, whereas 63.9% of those who had poor HbA(1C) values evaluated their health as bad. Age, level of education, mode of treatment, adherence to treatment and level of exercise were factors that were found to have statistically significant differences from, and therefore an influence on, self-reported health.

Conclusion: When working with diabetes patients, as soon as the diagnosis has been made, it is recommended that information both on subjective perceptions of health and on perceptions of the illness (health perceptions, health beliefs related to the illness) are evaluated and objective data (metabolic control values) are gathered.