How Do People With Diabetes Describe Their Experiences in Primary Care? Evidence From 85,760 Patients With Self-reported Diabetes From the English General Practice Patient Survey DOI: 10.2337/dc14-1095 OBJECTIVE

Developing primary care is an important current health policy goal in the U.S. and England. Information on patients ’ experience can help to improve the care of people with diabetes. We describe the experiences of people with diabetes in primary care and examine how these experiences vary with increasing comorbidity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using data from 906,578 responders to the 2012 General Practice Patient Survey (England), including 85,760 with self-reported diabetes, we used logistic regres-sions controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status to analyze patient experience using seven items covering three domains of primary care: access, continuity, and communication. RESULTS People with diabetes were significantly more likely to report better experience on six out of seven primary care items than people without diabetes after adjusting for age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (adjusted differences 0.88– 3.20%; odds ratios [ORs] 1.07–1.18; P < 0.001). Those with diabetes and additional comorbid long-term conditions were more likely to report worse experiences, particularly for access to primary care appointments (patients with diabetes alone comparedwith patientswithout diabetes: OR 1.22 [95 % CI 1.17–1.28] and patients with diabetes plus three or more conditions compared with patients withou