The Association between Chronic Diseases and Active Patient Participation

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Active patient participation in health care decision-making can results in better medical outcomes. This study's purpose is to investigate the association between the patient participation and the diseases often encountered in primary care. METHODS: We used the data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2015 which included 4,158 adults aged older than 19 and who had no missing data. The association between the presence of disease or the number of accompanying diseases and the active patient participation in the treatment decision was studied. Logistic regression analysis was conducted using complex sampling design in each sex. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounding variables, the relationship between active patient participation and the diagnosis of hypertension, odds ratio (OR) was 1.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-3.04) for men and 1.83 (95% CI, 1.27-2.65) for women. In women diagnosed with diabetes, OR was 0.58 (95% CI, 0.35-0.97). Between active patient participation and increasing number of accompanying diseases have positive tendency but not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that active patient participation is related to the diagnosis of hypertension, and the number of accompanying diseases and active patient participation were not significantly associated. This is a rare study related to the active patient participation in the Korean population, that it may be helpful in establishing further relevant research and strategies to increase the patient participation rate.