[Quality control in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Comparative study in 2 primary care centers]

Diabetes Mellitus is a health problem of grave importance. It is of fundamental concern that the patient assumes the principle responsibility for his treatment under the direction of a health care team, particularly nursing personnel. Presented here is a comparative study of recorded clinical histories from two primary care centers (Ambulatory/Health Care Center) of patients with diagnoses of NIDDM. The histories were chosen by simple random sample. The calculations of the sample were performed by the EPIINFO computer program with the following results: AMBULATORY: Population size: 683; 95% Level of Confidence;

246 histories. HEALTH CARE CENTER: Population size: 224; 95% Level of Confidence; Calculated

141 histories. The design is based on R. Heather Palmer's cycle of guaranteed quality, as well as the classification of Donabedian and the consensus of the nursing teams from the two centers regarding criteria of quality. Thus, a comparison was made between what was recorded and what should have been done. The obtained results point out a significant difference between the Ambulatory Clinic and the Health Care Center. Of major interest is the difference in the HbA1 levels (19.1 Health Care Center/0.4 Ambulatory) as well as the self evaluation notebooks (33% Health Care Center/0.8% Ambulatory).