Association between Diabetes Education Status and Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: Analysis of the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V).

Background: We aimed to study the importance of diabetes education by investigating diabetes education rate and the associations between the presence/absence of diabetes education and the clinical outcomes of diabetic patients in Korea. Methods: In the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination survey (KNHANES V), a cross-sectional national survey during 2010 and 2012, 1498 subjects aged over 30 years and older were diagnosed with diabetes by doctors. The subjects were analyzed by a complex samples model. Results: Only 20.3% of diabetes patients received diabetes education, and this was not significantly different between age groups. Education was delivered in hospitals/clinics, public health centers, and public lectures (15.7%, 3.0% and 1.4%, respectively). After adjusting for age, sex, and duration of diabetes, the factors independently associated with the presence of diabetes education were higher education level, frequent walking habit, and parameters regarding the presence of dyslipidemia, insulin treatment, and non-pharmacologic treatment. Among continuous variables, only the duration of diabetes was associated with diabetes education status; metabolic parameters were not associated with diabetes education status. Conclusion: Diabetes is a chronic disease and education on diabetes is very important. The education rate was low and quality of the education is doubtful. An effort to raise the rate of diabetes education and further study to raise the quality of diabetes training are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]