Is patient activation associated with future health outcomes and healthcare utilization among patients with diabetes?

• Published in: The Journal of ambulatory care management Vol. 32; no. 4; p. 320
• Main Authors: Remmers, Carol, Hibbard, Judith, Mosen, David M, Wagenfield, Morton, Hoye, Robert E, Jones, Ches
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.10.2009
• Subjects: Diabetes Mellitus - psychology; Diabetes Mellitus - therapy; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Education as Topic; Patient Participation - psychology; Retrospective Studies; Self Care - psychology; Self Efficacy
• ISSN: 0148-9917
• DOI: 10.1097/JAC.0b013e3181ba6e77

We examined the relationship between the patient activation measure (PAM) and future diabetes-related health outcomes through retrospective analysis of secondary data using multivariate logistic regression. PAM scores from a 2004 survey on 1180 randomly sampled adults with diabetes and health information from a 2006 diabetes registry were the data sources used. The PAM was predictive for hemoglobin A1c (HgA1c) testing (P < .008), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) testing (P < .005), HgA1c control (P < .01), and all-cause discharges (P < .03), but not for lipid-lowering drug use, LDL-C control, or acute myocardial infarction discharges. These results suggest that PAM scores can be used to identify patients at risk for poorer health outcomes.