Forgone Care in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract Background and objective: Diabetes mellitus is a complex chronic disease requiring appropriate continuous medical care and delayed, or forgone care may exacerbate the severity of the disease. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting forgone care in diabetic patients.Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 1139 patients with type 2 diabetes aged 18 years and older in East Azerbaijan. Data collected using a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software version 22. Results: Of the 1139 patients, 510 patients (45%) reported forgone care during the last year. The percentage of forgoing care was higher in patients without supplementary insurance coverage (P=0.01), those with complications (P=0.01) and those with the history of hospitalization (P=0.006). The majority of patients (41.5%) reported that the most important reason for forgoing care is financial barriers resulting from disease treatment costs. Of the main four factors, quality of care had the highest impact on forgone care at 61.28±39.74, followed by accessibility (37.01±25.12), awareness and attitude towards disease (18.52±18.87) and social support (17.22±18.80).Conclusion: The results showed that, despite the implementation of the Islamic Republic of Iran on a fast-track to beating non-communicable diseases (IraPEN), a considerable number of diabetics had a history of forgoing care, and the most important reasons for forgoing care were related to the financial pressure and dissatisfaction with the quality of care. Therefore, not only more financial support programs should be carried out, but the quality of care should be improved.