RESEARCH ARTICLE Patient Characteristics Associated with Measurement of Routine Diabetes Care: An Observational Study

Background Non-modifiable patient characteristics, including age, gender, ethnicity as well as the occur-rence of multi-morbidities, are associated with processes and outcomes of diabetes care. Information on these factors can be used in case mix adjustment of performance measures. However, the practical relevance of such adjustment is not clear. The aim of this study was to assess the strength of associations between patient factors and diabetes care processes and outcomes. Methods We performed an observational study based on routinely collected data of 12,498 diabetes patients in 59 Dutch primary care practices. Data were collected on patient age, gender, whether the patient lived in a deprived area, body mass index and the co-occurrence of car-diovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression or anxiety. Out-comes included 6 dichotomous measures (3 process and 3 outcome related) regarding glycosylated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol