Management of Chronic Disease and Hospitalization Due to Diabetes among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in Korea: Using the National Sample Cohort Data 2002–2013

• Main Authors: Sang Ah Lee, Woorim Kim, Sarah Soyeon Oh, Jieun Yang, Jieun Jang, Eun-Cheol Park
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: management of chronic disease; diabetes; self-management; chronic disease; hospitalizations
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2541

To prevent negative outcomes for diabetes patients, developing self-management skills is imperative. This study aimed to examine the association between management of chronic disease (MCD), which mainly involves educating patients about their chronic diseases for obtaining self-management skills and hospitalization due to diabetes among type 2 diabetes patients in Korea. Korean National Health Insurance Service National Sample Cohort data from 2002 to 2013 were used. A total of 54,031 type 2 diabetes patients were included in the study. If patients received the MCD within 1 year from the onset of diabetes, we categorized them as &#8220;MCD received patients&#8222; We reclassified these groups into five groups: &#8220;non-receiving&#8222;, &#8220;1&#8315;3 times&#8222;, &#8220;4&#8315;6 times&#8222;, &#8220;7&#8315;9 times&#8222; and &#8220;10&#8315;12 times&#8222; The dependent variable of this study was hospitalization due to diabetes. Cox proportional hazard regression was used. Of the patients, 86.2% (n = 46,571) did not received the MCD within the 1 year from the onset of diabetes. The number of MCDs received increased and the hazard ratio (HR) for hospitalization due to diabetes decreased; particularly, patients who received MCD 10&#8315;12 times per annum showed the lowest HR for hospitalization due to diabetes compared to patients in the MCD non-received group (1&#8315;3 times per annum: HR: 0.81, <i>p</i> = 0.0001; 4&#8315;6 times per annum: HR: 0.82, <i>p</i> = 0.0248; 7&#8315;9 times per annum: HR: 0.75, <i>p</i> = 0.0054; 10&#8315;12 times per annum: HR: 0.61, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.0001). Considering the importance of raising self-managing diabetes skills, the findings can aid in determining the outcomes of the MCD program.