Self-assessed quality of care among adults with diagnosed diabetes in Germany

Abstract

People who have diabetes require regular medical care. The views of patients about the quality of their care are becoming increasingly relevant when it comes to chronic diseases such as diabetes. As part of the nationwide study Disease Knowledge and Information Needs – Diabetes mellitus (2017), data on self-assessed quality of care by people with diagnosed diabetes was collected using the Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care – DAWN short form (PACIC-DSF, scale 1 to 5) and analysed for respondents aged 45 years or above. The average score for quality of care was 2.47 and was lower for women than for men (2.33 vs 2.58). The respondents assessed the quality of their care as being worse with rising age and size of the population in their residential area. No significant differences were observed by education group. Overall, people with diabetes in Germany consider the quality of their care to be moderate, which indicates a need for improvement in care.