title: Quality of care from the perspective of women with gestational diabetes in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the quality of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) care experienced by women in China and how it could be improved.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative study was conducted at a municipal hospital in south east China. Women who had been diagnosed with GDM at 34-38weeks of pregnancy were enrolled during two periods; between May 1 and July 31, 2012, and between April 1 and July 31, 2013. Data regarding patient-perceived care quality were collected through semi-structured individual interviews and were analyzed by qualitative content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study enrolled 44 patients; the interviews recorded a lack of professional care resources for GDM, a lack of high-quality personalized care for women with GDM, and patients' suggestions regarding how to improve GDM care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The participants reported a lack of high-quality GDM care, describing the core problem as an imbalance between over-stretched hospitals and low-efficiency under-utilized primary healthcare centers. Clinical-practice reforms identified, particularly in primary healthcare settings, included improving services through increasing the number of health professionals and material resources to comply with diabetes guidelines, and incorporating a humanistic approach in the provision of care.
authors.affiliation: Nursing College of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China; Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden. Electronic address: li.ge@lnu.se.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wikby
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rask
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000592:standards*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: China; Gestational diabetes; Quality of care; Women’s perspective