[Family physician attitudes towards insulinization in type II diabetics]

Abstract

Aim: To determine the attitudes of Toledo Health Area family physicians about starting insulinization in type 2 diabetic patients.

Materials and methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. A self-completed questionnaire was given to 353 family physicians of the Toledo Health Area, asking about socio-demographic and occupational data, and including the Spanish version of the Diabetes Attitude Scale (DAS-3sp) questionnaire to evaluate attitudes and motivations related to diabetes.

Results: A total of 66 responses were received, of which 50.8% were from females. Mean age (±standard deviation) was 49.97±7.40. Results of the different DAS-3sp subscales (values from 1 to 5) were: S1 (need for special training): 4.52±0.38; S2 (seriousness of type2 diabetes): 4.18±0.42; S3 (value of tight control): 4.15±0.39; S4 (psychosocial impact of diabetes): 3.79±0.48; and S5 (need for patient autonomy): 3.72±0.55. No statistically significant differences were obtained with the four first subscales with sex, specialized training, being a resident tutor, type of contract or clinical setting. There were statistically significant differences in S5 compared with sex (3.90±0,60 in men vs 3.54±0.45 in women; t=2.701; P=.009) and with being a resident tutor (3.99±0.58 vs 3.64±0.52 in non-tutors; t=2.188; P=.033).

Conclusions: The attitudes regarding starting insulin treatment in type2 diabetic patients are positives among Toledo Health Area family physicians, specially in the clinical aspects, but they are lower in the psychosocial impact and patient autonomy.

Keywords: Conocimientos, actitudes y práctica en salud; Diabetes mellitus tipo2; Educación en salud; Health education; Health knowledge, attitudes, practice; Insulin; Insulina; Type 2 diabetes mellitus.