ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Home healthcare represents a great necessity for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Although there are numerous studies on geriatric diabetic patients, there are few studies on diabetic home care versus hospital care. AIM: This study aimed to compare the effect of home healthcare services to hospital care for controlling type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at King Salman Armed Forces Hospital, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at King Salman Armed Forces Hospital. The home healthcare group included 128 participants who received frequent follow-up visits at home. The hospital care group included 128 participants from the primary care clinic. Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was used to measure glycemic control. Logistic regression analysis was done to detect factors related to achieving glycemic control. RESULTS: Home healthcare care had a greater impact on the reduction of baseline glycosylated hemoglobin levels (p=0.0053). The target glycosylated hemoglobin was achieved by patients who received home healthcare (p=0.020). Using the multivariate regression analysis, home healthcare, married patients, those who can do full daily life activities without assistance, and those who were treated with only insulin had significant correlations to meet the target glycosylated hemoglobin level (odds ratio: 0.814, 0.541, 0.448, and 0.144; 95% confidence intervals: 0.72-0.94, 0.30-0.99, 0.31-0.65, and 0.08-0.25, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Home care strategy for patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus provides better glycemic control compared to hospital care. Home care, marriage, doing full daily activities, and insulin treatment are important factors affecting glycemic control.
