Experience of Patients with Diabetes and Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors with Health Professionals and Healthcare in Spain

• Main Authors: Domingo Orozco-Beltrán, Sergio Cinza-Sanjurjo, José Escribano-Serrano, Flora López-Simarro, Gonzalo Fernández, Antón Gómez-García, Marta Cedenilla-Horcajuelo, Karine Ferreira de Campos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Subjects: type 2 diabetes mellitus; patient experience; healthcare; new technologies in primary healthcare
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/13/2831

We aimed to evaluate the experience of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) with healthcare received in Spain. This was a retrospective, observational study in patients with T2DM cared for in primary healthcare (PHC) centers. A cross-sectional analysis of the patients’ experience data was performed using the Instrument for the Evaluation of the Experience of Chronic Patients (IEXPAC). A total of 475 patients with T2DM were recruited from 36 PHC centers, of which 248 (52.2%) completed the IEXPAC questionnaire. The IEXPAC total mean score (range 0–10) was 7 points, with an average “new relational model” score of 2.5 points. The mean continuity of care score after hospital discharge was 6.2 points. The results showed that 8% of the patients always or almost always used the internet to check their medical history, appointments or other data from their healthcare service, and 15% responded that healthcare professionals always or almost always informed them of forums or other reliable internet sites to obtain information about their illness. The study results show that there is a wide margin for improvement in the experience of patients with T2DM with healthcare in Spain, especially regarding the information patients receive or can obtain.