Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Healthcare seeking behavior and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary hospital

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the relationship between healthcare seeking behaviors and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was conducted among patients with type 2 diabetes from a randomized controlled trial conducted in a tertiary hospital, Bangladesh. Data on health center use, healthcare providers visited, self-monitoring of blood glucose, blood pressure, foot care, and physical activity were collected through structured questionnaires. Uncontrolled diabetes was defined as HbA1c ≥ 7%. Multivariable logistic regression models were performed.

Result

Of the 265 patients (mean age 50.3 ± 9.9 years; 49.8% females), the majority (71.3%) had uncontrolled diabetes. More than one-third (34.9%) of the participants did not visit their physician or a healthcare center during the previous 3-months. Only 12.4% of participants checked their blood glucose, and 35.8% checked their blood pressure during the last week. Participants who did not visit a physician or a healthcare center during the past 3 months had twice the odds of having uncontrolled diabetes, compared with those who visited during the same period [OR 2.12, 95% CI (1.02–5.14), p = 0.04].

Conclusion

Regular consultation with a physician or visiting a healthcare center might help to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  1. Martinez R, Lloyd-Sherlock P, Soliz P, Ebrahim S, Vega E, Ordunez P, et al. Trends in premature avertable mortality from non-communicable diseases for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a population-based study. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(4):e511–e23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Islam SMS, Purnat TD, Phuong NTA, Mwingira U, Schacht K, Fröschl G. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in developing countries: a symposium report. Glob Health. 2014;10(1):81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. International Diabetes Federation (IDF). IDF Diabetes Atlas. 9th edition. 2019.

  4. Islam SMS, Lechner A, Ferrari U, Laxy M, Seissler J, Brown J, et al. Healthcare use and expenditure for diabetes in Bangladesh. BMJ Glob Health. 2017;2(1):e000033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Biswas T, Islam A, Rawal L, Islam S. Increasing prevalence of diabetes in Bangladesh: a scoping review. Public Health. 2016;138:4–11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Akter S, Rahman MM, Abe SK, Sultana P. Prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes and their risk factors among Bangladeshi adults: a nationwide survey. Bull World Health Organ. 2014;92(3):204–13A.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Shah T, Patel M, Shah V. Health care seeking behavior of urban and rural community in Ahmedabad district. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2013;2(4):908–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Islam SMS, Alam DS, Wahiduzzaman M, Niessen LW, Froeschl G, Ferrari U, et al. Clinical characteristics and complications of patients with type 2 diabetes attending an urban hospital in Bangladesh. Diab Metab Syndr. 2014;9(1):7–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Islam SMS, Ferrari U, Seissler J, Niessen L, Lechner A. Association between depression and diabetes amongst adults in Bangladesh: a hospital based case–control study. J Glob Health. 2015;5(2):020406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Islam SMS, Rawal LB, Niessen LW. Prevalence of depression and its associated factors in patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Asian J Psychiatr. 2015;17:36–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nguma LK. Health seeking and health related behaviour for type 2 diabetes mellitus among adults in an urban community in Tanzania: University of Otago. 2010.

  12. MacKian S. A review of health seeking behaviour: problems and prospects. Health Systems Development Programme. University of Manchester. 2003.

  13. Islam SM, Lechner A, Ferrari U, Froeschl G, Alam DS, Holle R, et al. Mobile phone intervention for increasing adherence to treatment for type 2 diabetes in an urban area of Bangladesh: protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Serv Res. 2014;14(1):586. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-014-0586-1.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Who EC. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. Lancet. 2004;363(9403):157–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Access GH, Collaborators Q. Healthcare access and quality index based on mortality from causes amenable to personal health care in 195 countries and territories, 1990–2015: a novel analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet. 2017;390(10091):231–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Saleh F, Mumu SJ, Ara F, Hafez MA, Ali L. Non-adherence to self-care practices & medication and health related quality of life among patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1):431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Mumu SJ, Saleh F, Ara F, Afnan F, Ali L. Non-adherence to life-style modification and its factors among type 2 diabetic patients. Indian J Public Health. 2014;58(1):40–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Martínez YV, Prado-Aguilar CA, Rascón-Pacheco RA, Valdivia-Martínez JJ. Quality of life associated with treatment adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2008;8(1):164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hankó B, Kázmér M, Kumli P, Hrágyel Z, Samu A, Vincze Z, et al. Self-reported medication and lifestyle adherence in Hungarian patients with type 2 diabetes. Pharm World Sci. 2007;29(2):58–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Wong LY, Toh MP. Understanding of diabetes mellitus and health-preventive behaviour among Singaporeans. Ann Acad Med Singap. 2009;38(6):478–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Inche Zainal Abidin S, Sutan R, Shamsuddin K. Prevalence and determinants of appropriate health seeking behaviour among known diabetics: results from a community-based survey. Adv Epidemiol. 2014;2014:793286.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Sethi B. Health and behaviour. Indian J Psychiatry. 1984;26(2):97–8.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Rawal LB, Wolfe R, Joyce C, Riddell M, Dunbar JA, Li H, et al. Utilisation of general practitioner services and achievement of guideline targets by people with diabetes who joined a peer-support program in Victoria, Australia. Aust J Prim Health. 2015;21(2):205–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Islam SMS, Tabassum R. Implementation of information and communication technologies for health in Bangladesh. Bull World Health Organ. 2015;93(11):806–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Islam S, Tabassum R, Liu Y, Chen S, Redfern J, Kim S, et al. The role of social media in preventing and managing non-communicable diseases in low-and-middle income countries: hope or hype? Health Policy Technol. 2019;8(1):96–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Islam SMS, Farmer AJ, Bobrow K, Maddison R, Whittaker R, Dale LAP, et al. Mobile phone text-messaging interventions aimed to prevent cardiovascular diseases (Text2PreventCVD): systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis. Open Heart. 2019;6(2):e001017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Islam SMS, Niessen LW, Ferrari U, Ali L, Seissler J, Lechner A. Effects of mobile phone SMS to ImproveGlycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh: a prospective, parallel-group. Randomized Control Trial Diabetes Care. 2015;2015(38):112–3.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Islam SMS, Peiffer R, Chow CK, Maddison R, Lechner A, Holle R, et al. Cost-effectiveness of a mobile-phone text messaging intervention on type 2 diabetes—a randomized-controlled trial. Health Policy Technol. 2020;9(1):79–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Islam SMS, Lechner A, Ferrari U, Seissler J, Holle R, LW N. Mobile phone use and willingness to pay for SMS for diabetes in Bangladesh. J Public Health. 2016;38(1):163–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Islam SMS, Niessen LW, Seissler J, Ferrari U, Biswas T, Islam A, et al. Diabetes knowledge and glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh. SpringerPlus. 2015;4:284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Islam SMS, Biswas T, Bhuiyan FA, Mustafa K, Islam A. Patients’ perspective of disease and medication adherence for type 2 diabetes in an urban area in Bangladesh: a qualitative study. BMC Res Notes. 2017;10(1):131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge with gratitude the commitment of DAAD, BMZ, and Exceed to support our research. We would like to thank the BIHS staff for their overall support. We also thank study participants and the study team for their valuable support for this research.

Funding

This research study was supported by the icddr,b and the Center for International Health (CIH), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich, Germany through DAAD, BMZ, and Exceed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Melbourne, VIC, 3125, Australia

    Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam & Riaz Uddin

  2. Cardiovascular Division, The George Institute for Global Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam

  3. Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam

  4. Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases, Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam, Tuhin Biswas, Louis Niessen & Aliya Naheed

  5. Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Sojib Bin Zaman

  6. Bangladesh College of Home Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Tania Tansi

  7. Iranian Center of Excellence in Health Management, School of Management and Medical Informatics, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran

    Zahra Chegini

  8. WHO Collaborating Centre on eHealth, UNSW Digital Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Mohammad Ali Moni

  9. Centre for Applied Health Research and Delivery, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK

    Louis Niessen

  10. Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Louis Niessen

Authors
  1. Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Riaz Uddin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sojib Bin Zaman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tuhin Biswas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tania Tansi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zahra Chegini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Mohammad Ali Moni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Louis Niessen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Aliya Naheed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Consortia

for the MPID Trial Investigators

Contributions

SMSI obtained funding and developed the study concept and protocol. TB was responsible for the data collection and contributed to the first draft. TB and SMSI performed the data analysis. SMSI, AN, and SBZ interpreted the data and contributed to the manuscript for improving the scientific contents. RU, TT, ZC, and MAM reviewed the manuscript and contributed intellectually. LN and AN provided overall supervision and final comments. All authors have read the final manuscript and agreed for submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the ethical and research review committee of the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

Consent to participate

Written informed consent was obtained from each participant before enrollment and the aims and objectives of the study were explained.

Consent for publication

The participants consented for their data to be used in scientific communications, including publication in journals.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Islam, S.M.S., Uddin, R., Zaman, S.B. et al. Healthcare seeking behavior and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes attending a tertiary hospital. Int J Diabetes Dev Ctries 41, 280–287 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-020-00875-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13410-020-00875-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation