Disease management program in patients with type 2 diabetes

The aim of this paper was to study ethnic and socioeconomic (SEP) factors' association with provision and participation in a type 2 diabetes disease-management program. In 2016-21, 3464 persons were referred to type 2 diabetes management in Copenhagen municipality. Personalized plans included a mix of activities; program consultations, dietary education, telephone conversations, patient education, and physical training. We estimated the association between education, income, civic status, employment, and country of origin with the number of booked and participated activities using Poisson regression models. A total of 55 394 program sessions were scheduled. Small differences in booked dietary education, program consultations, telephone conversations, and patient education were seen between SEP groupings. In situations where groups with lower SEP had booked more sessions (e.g. unemployed bookings of dietary education), these were predominantly translated into equal or more participated sessions among persons with high SEP. Regarding physical training, considerably more booked and participated sessions were delivered to women with lower SEP and ethnic minorities. This study is unique, in the sense that it is the first of its kind to analyze data on diabetes-management programs, systematically collected by primary healthcare workers. Our results suggest that specific elements of the program together with a higher number of booked sessions promoted vulnerable women to participate in more physical training sessions. In closing, these findings have the potential to provide motivation and ideas for policymakers and health professionals in how to design equitable type 2 diabetes management activities.