Study examines how GPs identify and address treatment burdens in diabetes care

Background and goal: Managing type 2 diabetes involves complex treatment, workload, and costs that impose a significant burden on individuals, impacting their physical and mental health. This study examines how general practitioners (GPs) in China identify and respond to these burdens during patient consultations.

Study approach: The study examined video recordings of 29 GP-patient consultations recorded between 2018 and 2019 in a primary care clinic in China. Researchers reviewed these consultations for discussions related to treatment burdens in managing type 2 diabetes and analyzed the interviews to identify specific burdens and the strategies GPs employed to address them.

Main results: A total of 29 GP-patient video consultations were examined. Analysis identified 77 interview sections that focused on discussions related to treatment burden.

• The median length of the 29 video-recorded consultations was about 24 minutes.

• In 37.66% of the segments, the GP initiated and responded to discussions about treatment burden while in 23.38%, the patient initiated the discussion, and the GP responded to it; In 38.96%, the patient initiated the discussion, but the GP did not respond. 

• Medication was the most frequently identified component of treatment burden by both patients and GPs, followed by personal resources, medical information, and administrative burdens. 

Why it matters: The findings from this study highlight the complexity of type 2 diabetes treatment burdens and emphasize the importance of tailored GP responses to improve patient engagement and reduce barriers to care.