Do diabetologists recognise self-management problems in their patients?

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether diabetologists recognise patients' needs for additional intensive multidisciplinary care due to glycaemic and diabetes-related psychosocial difficulties. Research design and methods: We compared 114 participants in a diabetes intervention programme with 201 as yet non-referred outpatients, of whom 54 outpatients were considered eligible for the intervention by their diabetologists; thus, 147 outpatients were considered non-eligible. Results: Analysis revealed that the eligible patients had poorer glycaemic control but all other parameters were similar to non-eligible patients. Significantly, 22 (15%) of the 147 non-eligible patients clearly had diabetes distress and could potentially benefit from the intervention. Conclusion: The results suggest that in regular care, patients' needs with respect to glycaemic control are recognised by their diabetologists, but patients with high psychosocial diabetes-related distress are often overlooked, though they also may be in need of additional care. Integrated monitoring of diabetes-related distress in outpatients could improve this area of diabetes care. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved