Background: Little is known about the characteristics of patients attending diabetes education centres (DECs). To address this knowledge gap, we examined the clinical characteristics of patients referred to a centralized urban DEC.
Methods: Using a clinically detailed patient registry, we studied the profiles of 1459 patients seen in an urban DEC, and compared patients referred to the DEC by family physicians (FPs) to those referred by other physicians (usually specialists), and patients referred to the DEC for the first time to those who had been referred a number of times (multiply-referred patients).
Results: Among patients with a known source of referral, 73% were referred by their FP and 27% by a physician other than the FP. Eighty-seven percent of patients were being referred for the first time, and 13% had previous referrals. Blood glucose control at the time of referral was poorer for non-FP referrals and for multiply-referred patients. Patients in the former subgroup were more likely taking insulin when referred (38% v. 12%, p < 0.000), to have type 1 diabetes (19% v. 8%, p < 0.000) and to be referred for insulin initiation (12% v. 2%, p < 0.000) than were FP referrals. Meanwhile, multiply-referred patients were younger (51.9 v. 56.1 yr, p < 0.000) and were more likely to be female (59% v. 46%, p = 0.001) than were patients referred only once.
Interpretation: Source of referral (FP v. non-FP) and presence or absence of previous referrals define unique DEC patient subgroups. Attention to the relative size and service needs of these subgroups is relevant to the planning of diabetes services.