Patient perception of mid-level providers and their role in pediatric diabetes care (2013)

Undergraduates: Erica Andrews, Lindsay Jaacks

Faculty Advisor: Beth Mayer-Davis
Department: Nutrition

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To determine patient perception of mid-level providers, a survey was administered to SEARCH 3 Carolina Site Registry and Cohort participants with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) from June 2012 to October 2012. The survey asked about participant understanding of provider roles, employment of providers at clinic, and if participants had seen providers since diagnosis. Mid-level providers of interest were dietitians, nurse practitioners (NP), physician assistants (PA), and medical social workers (MSW). Of the sample (n=84) 45% were female; mean (SD) age 17.3 (4.2) yrs for Cohort and11.6 (3.6) yrs for Registry youth. Cohort participants (n=62) had diabetes ≥5 yrs (mean (SD) duration 80.0 (11.5) mos) and Registry participants (n=22) were recently diagnosed (mean (SD) duration 2.2 (1.1) mos). Cohort participants were more likely to understand the role of dietitians than other providers. Cohort participants reported that dietitians were more likely to be employed at clinics and dietitians were more likely to be seen than other providers. Registry participants did not differ in understanding of providers, but they reported that dietitians were more likely to be employed at clinics than PAs and MSWs and dietitians were more likely to be seen than other providers. While the role of dietitians is well understood and a majority of patients have seen them, knowledge of roles and perceived access to other providers is lacking particularly among youth with longer disease durations.