| Literature DB >> 27695110 |
Valeria Manicardi1, Giuseppina Russo2, Angela Napoli3, Elisabetta Torlone4, Patrizia Li Volsi5, Carlo Bruno Giorda6, Nicoletta Musacchio7, Antonio Nicolucci8, Concetta Suraci9, Giuseppe Lucisano8, Maria Chiara Rossi8.
Abstract
We evaluated gender-differences in quality of type 1 diabetes (T1DM) care. Starting from electronic medical records of 300 centers, 5 process indicators, 3 favorable and 6 unfavorable intermediate outcomes, 6 treatment intensity/appropriateness measures and an overall quality score were measured. The likelihood of women vs. men (reference class) to be monitored, to reach outcomes, or to be treated has been investigated through multilevel logistic regression analyses; results are expressed as Odd Ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). The inter-center variability in the achievement of the unfavorable outcomes was also investigated. Overall, 28,802 subjects were analyzed (45.5% women). Women and men had similar age (44.5±16.0 vs. 45.0±17.0 years) and diabetes duration (18.3±13.0 vs. 18.8±13.0 years). No between-gender differences were found in process indicators. As for intermediate outcomes, women showed 33% higher likelihood of having HbA1c ≥8.0% (OR = 1.33; 95%CI: 1.25-1.43), 29% lower risk of blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg (OR = 0.71; 95%CI: 0.65-0.77) and 27% lower risk of micro/macroalbuminuria (OR = 0.73; 95%CI: 0.65-0.81) than men, while BMI, LDL-c and GFR did not significantly differ; treatment intensity/appropriateness was not systematically different between genders; overall quality score was similar in men and women. Consistently across centers a larger proportion of women than men had HbA1c ≥8.0%, while a smaller proportion had BP ≥140/90 mmHg. No gender-disparities were found in process measures and improvements are required in both genders. The systematic worse metabolic control in women and worse blood pressure in men suggest that pathophysiologic differences rather than the care provided might explain these differences.Entities:
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Year: 2016 PMID: 27695110 PMCID: PMC5047461 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162960
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Patients characteristics according to gender.
| Patient characteristics | M | F | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| N | 15,708 | 13,094 | |
| % | 54.5 | 45.5 | |
| Age (yrs) | 44.5±16.0 | 45.0±17.0 | 0.17 |
| BMI (Kg/m2) | 25.0±3.7 | 24.2±4.3 | <0.0001 |
| Smokers (%) | 31.8 | 22.7 | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes duration (yrs) | 18.3±13.0 | 18.8±13.0 | 0.0004 |
| Diabetes duration classes (%) | |||
| ≤2 | 10.7 | 9.5 | 0.0006 |
| 2–5 | 8.9 | 8.4 | |
| 5–10 | 14.3 | 13.7 | |
| 10–20 | 26.3 | 27.2 | |
| >20 | 39.8 | 41.2 | |
| HbA1c (%) | 8.0±1.5 | 8.2±1.5 | <0.0001 |
| HbA1c (mmol/mol) | 63.9±16.4 | 66.1±16.4 | <0.0001 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dl) | 184±36 | 192±35 | <0.0001 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 57±15 | 67±16 | <0.0001 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 108±30 | 108±29 | 0.70 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 97±89 | 83±56 | <0.0001 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 128±17 | 124±18 | <0.0001 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 76±9 | 73±9 | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes treatment (%) | |||
| Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) | 13.9 | 19.6 | <0.0001 |
| Multiple daily injection (MDI) | 86.1 | 80.4 | |
| Lipid-lowering agents (%) | 25.4 | 23.5 | 0.0002 |
| Antihypertensive treatment (%) | 28.7 | 26.1 | <0.0001 |
Quality indicators of diabetes care according to gender.
| Process indicators | M (%) | F (%) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| HbA1c | 93.5 | 93.7 | 0.45 |
| Lipid profile | 71.5 | 71.8 | 0.47 |
| Blood pressure | 75.8 | 76.3 | 0.34 |
| Renal function | 50.8 | 51.4 | 0.27 |
| Eye examination | 41.0 | 41.3 | 0.55 |
| HbA1c ≤7.0% (≤53 mmol/mol) | 25.6 | 20.4 | <0.0001 |
| LDL-C <100 mg/dl | 41.4 | 41.5 | 0.91 |
| BP ≤130/80 mmHg | 61.5 | 69.5 | <0.0001 |
| HbA1c >8.0% (>64 mmol/mol) | 41.6 | 47.3 | <0.0001 |
| LDL-C ≥130 mg/dl | 22.1 | 20.7 | 0.02 |
| BP ≥140/90 mmHg | 31.5 | 25.2 | <0.0001 |
| BMI ≥30 Kg/m2 | 8.7 | 9.8 | 0.002 |
| GFR ≤60 ml/min | 7.8 | 9.6 | <0.0001 |
| MAU | 30.1 | 24.7 | <0.0001 |
| No lipid-lowering agents despite LDL-c ≥130 mg/dl | 68.2 | 71.1 | 0.04 |
| No antihypertensive treatments despite BP ≥140/90 mmHg | 49.8 | 47.4 | 0.06 |
| No ACE-I and/or ARBs despite MAU | 8.7 | 8.9 | 0.58 |
| LDL-c ≥130 mg/dl in spite of lipid-lowering treatment | 23.1 | 21.7 | 0.22 |
| BP ≥140/90 mmHg in spite of antihypertensive treatment | 50.8 | 47.6 | 0.01 |
| Q score <15 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 0.68 |
| Q score >25 | 40.6 | 41.5 | 0.14 |
Quality indicators of diabetes care according to gender.
The first three columns show the likelihood (odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals) of women as compared to men (reference class) to be monitored for specific clinical parameters, to reach specific clinical outcomes and to be treated with specific classes of drugs. Odds ratios are crude, adjusted for patient characteristics only (age, diabetes duration, BMI, and smoking), and for patient characteristics and clustering effect. Statistically significant differences are in bold. The fourth column shows intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC). The higher the ICC, the greater the influence of the center level on the quality of care indicator. The fifth column shows the results of the multilevel analyses additionally adjusted for process indicators (i.e. monitoring and appropriateness indicators associated with each outcome).
| Crude likelihood | Adjusted for Age, Duration, BMI and Smoke | Adjusted for Age, Duration, BMI and Smoke, and Clustering effect | Intra-class correlations (ICC) | Adjusted for Age, Duration, BMI and Smoke, Clustering effect + Process/treatment indicators specific for the outcome | Intra-class correlations (ICC) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | |||
| HbA1c ≤7.0% (≤53 mmol/mol) | 0.04 | 0.04 | ||||
| LDL-C <100 mg/dl | 0.03 | 0.01 | ||||
| BP<130/80 mmHg | 0.12 | 0.04 | ||||
| HbA1c >8.0% (>64 mmol/mol) | 0.03 | 0.03 | ||||
| LDL-C ≥130 mg/dl | 0.92 (0.86–0.99) | 0.95 (0.87–1.04) | 0.96 (0.88–1.05) | 0.04 | 0.97 (0.89–1.07) | 0.01 |
| BP≥140/90 mmHg | 0.11 | 0.02 | ||||
| BMI≥30 Kg/m2 | 1.06 (0.95–1.19) | 1.07 (0.95–1.19) | 0.05 | |||
| GFR≤60 ml/min | 1.09 (0.93–1.27) | 1.09 (0.93–1.27) | 0.01 | 1.09 (0.93–1.27) | 0.01 | |
| MAU | 0.35 | 0.27 |
Fig 1Inter-center variability in the percentage difference of men and women who reach the unfavorable intermediate outcomes.
The inter-center variability in the difference between men and women achieving the different unfavorable targets was investigated using multilevel models adjusted for age, diabetes duration, BMI, and clustering effect. For each center, the estimated difference between men and women who reached the outcome indicator was calculated. These differences were ranked from the lowest to the highest and reported in the graph. The dotted line represents the absence of between gender differences. When the value for a center is above the dotted line, the percentage of individuals with unfavourable outcome is higher in women than in men; when the value is below the dotted line, the percentage is lower in women than in men. When most of the values for one specific indicator are above or below the dotted line, this indicates the presence of a between-gender difference for that outcome in the majority of the centers.