Study examines how GPs identify and address treatment burdens in diabetes care

Background and goal: Managing type 2 diabetes involves complex treatment, workload, and costs that impose a significant burden on individuals, impacting their physical and mental health. This study examines how general practitioners (GPs) in China identify and respond to these burdens during patient consultations.

Study approach: The study examined video recordings of 29 GP-patient consultations recorded between 2018 and 2019 in a primary care clinic in China. Researchers reviewed these consultations for discussions related to treatment burdens in managing type 2 diabetes and analyzed the interviews to identify specific burdens and the strategies GPs employed to address them.

Main results: A total of 29 GP-patient video consultations were examined. Analysis identified 77 interview sections that focused on discussions related to treatment burden.

  • The median length of the 29 video-recorded consultations was about 24 minutes.



  • In 37.66% of the segments, the GP initiated and responded to discussions about treatment burden while in 23.38%, the patient initiated the discussion, and the GP responded to it; In 38.96%, the patient initiated the discussion, but the GP did not respond. 

  • Medication was the most frequently identified component of treatment burden by both patients and GPs, followed by personal resources, medical information, and administrative burdens. 

Why it matters: The findings from this study highlight the complexity of type 2 diabetes treatment burdens and emphasize the importance of tailored GP responses to improve patient engagement and reduce barriers to care.

Source:

Journal reference:

Lin, K., et al. (2025) Primary Care Physicians’ Responses to Treatment Burden in People With Type 2 Diabetes: A Qualitative Video Analysis in China. The Annals of Family Medicine. doi.org/10.1370/afm.240171.

Source link : News-Medica

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.