Patient concerns in their first year with type 2 diabetes: patient and practice nurse views

One year after diagnosis, 250 patients with type 2 diabetes identified concerns related to having diabetes, in response to an open question and checklist. Their practice nurses independently reported what they believed were the patients' concerns. Nurses identified patients' main concerns in only 20% of cases. Patients' most frequent main concerns were 'fear of getting worse', 'following dietary advice' and 'damage caused by diabetes'. Nurses most frequently cited 'following dietary advice', 'illness or pain unrelated to diabetes' and 'overweight'. BMI over 25 was related to patient concerns about 'overweight' but not 'following dietary advice' nor 'taking exercise', mentioned also by people of lower weight. Only 19/106 patients with raised HbA1c levels reported concerns about high blood glucose levels. Nurse education in patient-centred care should build on the findings that patients focus more on current and future burden of symptoms and treatment than on blood glucose levels.