Competing Demands for Time and Self-Care Behaviors, Processes of Care, and Intermediate Outcomes Among PeopleWith Diabetes Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD)

OBJECTIVE—To determine whether competing demands for time affect diabetes self-care behaviors, processes of care, and intermediate outcomes. RESEARCHDESIGNANDMETHODS—We used survey and medical record data from 5,478 participants in Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) and hierarchical regression models to examine the cross-sectional associations between competing demands for time and diabetes outcomes, including self-management, processes of care, and intermediate health outcomes. RESULTS—Fifty-two percent of participants reported no competing demands, 7 % reported caregiving responsibilities only, 36 % reported employment responsibilities only, and 6 % reported both caregiving and employment responsibilities. For both women and men, employment re-sponsibilities (with or without caregiving responsibilities) were associated with lower rates of diabetes self-care behaviors, worse processes of care, and, in men, worse HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS—Accommodations for competing demands for time may promote self-management and improve the processes and outcomes of care for employed adults with diabetes. Diabetes Care 34:1180–1182, 2011 D iabetes self-management entails acomplex set of health behaviors. Forpeople living with young children or dependent adults and for those who work outside the home, caregiving responsibili-ties and/or expectations in the workplace may be barriers to self-management (1). We conducted a cross-sectional anal-ysis using data from Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD), a mul-ticenter prospective observational study of diabetes care in managed care, to assess whether there are associations between competing demands for time and diabetes self-care behaviors, processes of care, and intermediate health outcomes