Evaluation of a diabetes care program using the effective coverage framework.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Type 2 diabetes is a growing public health concern globally.
• Effective management programs are crucial for preventing complications and improving patient outcomes.
• Assessing program performance through metrics like effective coverage is essential for identifying areas of improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure the effective coverage of a type 2 diabetes control program in Hidalgo state, Mexico.
• To identify gaps in service delivery and patient participation within the program.
• To provide data-driven insights for enhancing diabetes care.

Main Methods:

• An observational study was conducted in Hidalgo state, Mexico.
• Participants included adults without social security health benefits and diagnosed diabetic patients in the program.
• Key outcome measures included diabetes detection, control of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, patient education, and prevention of diabetic complications.

Main Results:

• Only 7.1% of individuals with diabetes participated in the control program.
• Effective coverage for crucial actions like illness detection, HbA1c glucose control, and nephropathy prevention was notably low (6.22%, 5.01%, and 0.34%, respectively).
• Gaps were also observed in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol control and patient education.

Conclusions:

• A major challenge is the detection of individuals with diabetes, as many do not utilize health services and are not actively sought by the system.
• Medical services requiring patient payment show lower utilization and quality.
• Effective coverage is a valuable metric for assessing and improving the performance of diabetes care programs.