Younger people with Type 2 diabetes have poorer self‐care practices compared with older people: results from the Australian National Diabetes Audit

摘要

Abstract Aim This cross‐sectional study compares the self‐care practices of younger and older people with Type 2 diabetes. Methods Data were analysed from the Australian National Diabetes Audit ( ANDA ) including 2552 adults with Type 2 diabetes from Australian Diabetes Centres. Pre‐specified demographic and clinical variables were obtained. Self‐care variables (physical activity, following dietary recommendations, medication adherence and monitoring blood glucose levels) were compared in people ≤?64 and ?64?years of age. Results Mean age (±? sd ) of participants was 63?±?13?years overall, 53?±?9?years for the younger group and 73?±?6?years for the older group. A greater proportion of younger people had HbA 1c levels ?53?mmol/mol (?7.0%) (76% vs. 68%), reported difficulty following dietary recommendations (50% vs. 32%) and forgetting medications (37% vs. 22%) compared with older people (all P ‐values 0.001). A smaller proportion of younger compared with older people reported monitoring their blood glucose levels as often as recommended (60% vs. 70%, P ??0.001). Similar proportions of people aged ≤?64 and ?64?years required insulin therapy (59% vs. 57%, P ?=?0.200). Younger age was associated with a twofold increase in the odds of not following the recommended self‐care practices after adjustment for gender, smoking, insulin therapy, depression and allied health attendance (all P ??0.001). Conclusions Despite shorter diabetes duration, younger age was associated with worse glycaemic control and poorer diabetes self‐care practices among people with Type 2 diabetes. Targeted strategies are required to optimize diabetes self‐care practices and thereby glycaemic control.