Frequency of monitoring diabetes in primary care: What do well-controlled patients prefer?

Objective: To describe the preferences and the associated patients' characteristics of well-controlled type 2 diabetes patients for the diabetes monitoring frequency in primary care. Methods: Cross-sectional study with 233 participating general practitioners across the Netherlands. Eligible patients were between 40 and 80 years, diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for more than 1 year not on insulin, and with glycated hemoglobin (A1C) ≤7.5%, systolic blood pressure ≤145 mm Hg and total cholesterol ≤5.2 mmol/L. Participants were asked whether they had a preference for 3-monthly or 6-monthly monitoring or no preference. Results: From 2215 patients, 747 patients (33.7%) preferred 3-monthly and 677 (30.6%) 6-monthly monitoring by either the general practitioner or the practice nurse. The former group consisted of less smokers, felt less healthy, reported more diabetes-related distress, had the highest reported frequency of hyperglycemic episodes and used more oral blood glucose lowering drugs compared to the other patients. Those preferring 6-monthly monitoring were least satisfied with diabetes treatment, reported the lowest frequency of hyperglycemic episodes and used less oral blood glucose lowering drugs compared to the other patients. Conclusion: A preference for more frequent monitoring was associated with a worse disease status, whereas a preference for less frequent monitoring tended to be associated with the opposite. Patients seem to have logical preferences that need to be accounted for in diabetes care.