Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
Adjusted odds ratios of exhibiting health behaviors in the follow-up period of partners of persons with newly diagnosed diabetes, compared with partners of persons without newly diagnosed diabetes.
Note: Adjusted for baseline level of behavior and outcome variable, sex, race/ethnicity, geocoded education level, baseline body mass index category, and number of primary care visits.
Tables
- Table 1
Characteristics of Persons With and Without Newly Diagnosed Diabetes and Their Partners
Characteristic Persons With Newly Diagnosed Diabetes (n = 30,155) Persons Without Newly Diagnosed Diabetes: Matched Cohort (n = 150,775) Partners of Persons With Newly Diagnosed Diabetes (n = 30,155) Partners of Persons Without Newly Diagnosed Diabetes (n = 150,775) Age, mean (SD), y 55.4 (11.6) 54.5 (13.4) 54.3 (12.0) 53.2 (13.4) Age, % 18-44 y 17.7 23.9 21.3 27.3 45-64 y 61.0 53.7 59.5 52.8 65-79 y 19.1 18.2 17.0 16.4 80-89 y 2.2 4.1 2.2 3.5 Sex, % Female 37.1 34.6 62.8 65.4 Male 62.9 65.4 37.2 34.6 Race or ethnicity, % White 47.2 49.1 48.6 53.2 Black 6.3 5.9 5.8 5.5 Hispanic 19.1 18.8 17.7 17.1 Asian 21.6 20.1 21.1 17.6 Other or unknown 5.8 6.0 6.7 6.6 Geocoded education ≥bachelor’s degree, % <20 28.3 27.9 28.2 27.5 20-34 30.7 30.5 30.5 30.2 35-49 21.8 21.7 21.6 21.6 ≥50 19.2 20.0 19.2 20.0 Unknown 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.8 Geocoded annual US house-hold income, % <$60,000 28.6 28.2 28.4 27.9 $60,000-$79,999 26.1 25.8 26.0 25.6 $80,000-$99,999 20.6 20.4 20.5 20.2 ≥$100,000 24.7 25.6 24.6 25.5 Unknown 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.8 Body mass index, % Normal (<25 kg/m2) 9.8 8.4 19.7 27.1 Overweight (25-29 kg/m2) 55.0 57.1 28.4 29.6 Obese (≥30 kg/m2) 28.5 28.9 30.6 21.9 Unknown 6.7 5.7 21.2 21.4 Primary care, visits, mean (SD), No. 3.4 (3.7) 3.1 (4.1) 2.5 (3.5) 2.5 (3.3) No. of primary care visits, % 0 6.0 8.3 22.9 23.1 1 23.8 27.1 22.9 23.6 2-3 37.7 36.5 30.7 30.6 ≥4 32.5 28.1 23.5 22.8 Note: Data source is Kaiser Permanente Northern California Electronic Health Records.
The Article in Brief
Influence of a New Diabetes Diagnosis on the Health Behaviors of a Patient's Partner
Julie A. Schmittdiel , and colleagues
Background Spouses and partners of people with diabetes may have an increased risk of developing the disease themselves due to shared dietary habits, exercise patterns, and other health behaviors. Little is known about whether educating diabetes patients in healthy behaviors can lead to behavior change in other members of the household. This study explores whether partners of people with newly-diagnosed diabetes increase their health seeking and monitoring behaviors following their spouse's diagnosis.
What This Study Found Partners of people with newly diagnosed diabetes are more likely to change their health behaviors than partners of people without the disease. Among more than 180,000 couples in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health plan from 2007-2011, partners of patients with newly diagnosed diabetes had higher rates of participation in weight management classes, use of medications to stop smoking, glucose screening, clinically meaningful weight loss, lipid screening, influenza vaccination, and blood pressure screening compared to partners of people without diabetes. Even when clinicians did not focus on family members' lifestyle, partners of people with newly diagnosed diabetes exhibited small but significantly higher levels of behavioral change than their counterparts in other households.
Implications
- A diabetes diagnosis may be a teachable moment for family members and an opportunity to reduce their risk of developing diabetes.
- The authors call for a new focus on health risk interventions not just for individuals but for families and social networks.
