title: Quality of Type II Diabetes Care in Primary Health Care Centers in Kuwait: Employment of a Diabetes Quality Indicator Set (DQIS).
abstract: Diabetes Mellitus is one of the major public health challenges, affecting more than 347 million adults worldwide. The impact of diabetes necessitates assessing the quality of care received by people with diabetes, especially in countries with a significant diabetes burden such as Kuwait. This paper aimed at piloting an approach for measuring Type II diabetes care performance through the use of a diabetes quality indicator set (DQIS) in primary health care. The DQIS for Kuwait was adapted from that developed by the National Diabetes Quality Improvement Alliance and the International Diabetes Federation. Five key care domains/measures were employed: (1) Blood glucose level measurement, (2) Cholesterol level measurement, (3) Blood pressure measurement, (4) Kidney function testing and (5) Smoking status check. The sample included the four major primary health care centers with the highest case load in Kuwait City, 4,241 patients in 2012 and 3,211 in 2010. Findings revealed the applicability and utility of employing performance indicators for diabetes care in Kuwait. Furthermore, findings revealed that many of the primary health care centers have achieved noteworthy improvement in diabetes care between 2010 and 2012, with the exception of smoking status check. The DQIS can help policymakers identify performance gaps and investigate key system roadblocks related to diabetes care in Kuwait.
authors.affiliation: Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Dalia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Badawi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Shadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America.
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Natafgi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management and Policy, Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Yara
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mourad
authors.affiliation: Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
authors.forename: Kazem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Behbehani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D058996:Quality Improvement; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002784:Cholesterol; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human