Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Clin. Diabetes Healthc.
Sec. Diabetes Inequalities
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcdhc.2024.1290559
This article is part of the Research Topic Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare - Rising Stars Africa View all 10 articles

Utilization of basic diabetes mellitus services among adult patients with diabetes mellitus at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital diabetic clinic, Uganda: A cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Dan Muramuzi Dan Muramuzi 1*Aggrey Mukose Aggrey Mukose 2Richard Mugambe Richard Mugambe 1Laban Muteebwa Laban Muteebwa 1Patrick Albert Patrick Albert 1Lawrence Nduhukire Lawrence Nduhukire 1Clare Nnannyanzi Clare Nnannyanzi 1
  • 1 Makerere University, Kampala, Central Region, Uganda
  • 2 College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Utilization of diabetic care services remains a challenge among adult patients in low and middle-income countries. Optimal utilization of diabetic care services could reduce morbidity and mortality, and delay the development of long-term complications. This study assessed the utilization of basic diabetic care services and associated factors among diabetes mellitus patients at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in Western Uganda.We enrolled 208 patients with either type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus in a cross-sectional study between June and August 2022 at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Uganda. Consecutive sampling was used to select patients with diabetes mellitus who attended the diabetic clinic based on their scheduled date of appointment. Optimal utilization of basic diabetic services was defined as receiving at least three of the four core services including health education, assessment of vital signs (blood sugar, blood pressure, and body mass index), assessment of diabetic complications and diabetic drug refills. Modified Poisson regression analysis was used to assess determinants of utilization of basic diabetic services in STATA version 14.0.Results: Three-quarters of study participants were females (75.0%) and the median (inter-quartile range (IQR)) age was 52 (43, 56). 62.0% (95% (CI); 55.3, 68.7) self-reported to have utilized basic diabetic care services. In the adjusted analysis, waiting longer than 120 minutes to receive any service (adjusted Prevalence Ratio (aPR) 0.46, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 0.27-0.80), being 45-54 years old (aPR 1.48, 95% CI (1.11 1.98)) and 55-60 years old (aPR, 1.38, 95% CI (1.02 1.86)) were significantly associated with utilization of basic diabetic care services. Conclusion: Utilization of basic diabetic care services among adult patients remains sub-optimal. Age and waiting time were significantly associated with the utilization of diabetic care services. Interventions should be directed towards shortening waiting time in service delivery at diabetic clinic.

    Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, utilization, basic diabetic care, Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital, Adult patients

    Received: 07 Sep 2023; Accepted: 23 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Muramuzi, Mukose, Mugambe, Muteebwa, Albert, Nduhukire and Nnannyanzi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Dan Muramuzi, Makerere University, Kampala, Central Region, Uganda

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.