People with diabetes who are in agreement with what their doctor suggests do much better in controlling their condition.

With chronic diseases, like diabetes, the patient has to learn to manage their own treatment, under the guidance of their doctor. Researchers at the University of Michigan have been looking at how the interaction between patient and doctor affects the control of diabetes. In a survey, of 127 patient-physician pairs only five per cent agreed on the three top treatment goals and 10 percent agreed on all three treatment strategies. Nearly one-fifth of patients and doctors did not overlap on any of their top three treatment goals.

But three out of five patients overlapped with their doctor on at least one treatment goal and more than half shared one treatment strategy. Fifty-five percent of patients included their doctor's top goal and strategy among their own top three. Patients who said they shared responsibility with their doctor for making treatment decisions were more likely to agree with their doctor's top strategies. Similarly, doctors who reported discussing more areas of diabetes self-management with their patients saw more agreement on treatment strategies.

The study suggests that doctors need to talk in a very specific way to people with diabetes about overall treatment goals and what strategies to prioritize. There is often more than one treatment goal that might make sense to target at any given time which is why it's so important to set priorities. In the study, patients who agreed with their doctors on more treatment goals reported being more confident about managing their diabetes and more successful at their self-management than patients with less agreement.

Source

Journal of General Internal Medicine November 2003