Quality of Chronic Disease (Diabetes & Hypertension) Care in Health Care Facilities in High Disease Burden Areas in Sidama Region: Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND

Diabetes and hypertension are major synergistic risk factors for microvasculopathy, microangiopathy, and neuropathy problems among patients with chronic disorder. Control of hypertension and diabetes have significant value in delaying these complications. The key for delaying complications in diabetes and hypertension is the quality of care.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the quality of diabetes-hypertension care in health care facilities with high disease burden in Sidama region.

METHODOLOGY: An institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out. Patients with diabetes and hypertension were included in the study. In this study, we included 844 patients were included in the study. For data collection, the application software Kobo Collect was utilized. For data analysis, SPSS version 25 was used. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with quality of care. To measure quality, we employed patient outcome indicators focusing on long-term complications of the eye, heart, fasting blood pressure, and neuropathic complications. Ethical approval clearance was obtained from Hawassa University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences ethical review board.

RESULTS

The mean age of patients was 47.99 ± 15.26 years, with a range of 18-90 years, while men make up 62% of the overall number of respondents. In terms of marital status, 700 (82.9%) were married. Concerning place of residence; 433 (51.3%) were from rural area. The primary diagnosis is diabetes for 419 (49.6%) patients, and nearly 23% of patients have both diabetes and hypertension. In terms of blood pressure, the average systolic pressure was 129.6 mmHg and the average diastolic pressure was 82.6 mmHg. Among the study participants, 391 (46.33%) patients received poor quality of chronic disease care. Patients living alone, patients who have professional work, fasting blood glucose in normal range, patients with higher education, and patients with serum creatinine receive relatively good chronic illness care.