Abstract
BACKGROUND: Satisfaction with treatment is considered a relevant factor for assessing results in clinical practice. However, when assessing satisfaction in dependent patients, the opinion of their caregivers becomes crucial, since implicit in satisfaction is the degree of caregiver involvement, of adherence to treatment, and lastly of better care of these patients. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop, validate, and administer two versions of a specific questionnaire to assess satisfaction with blood glucose-lowering treatment in caregivers of dependent type 2 diabetic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was an observational, descriptive, epidemiological study conducted in the Los Montalvos Internal Medicine Department at the University Hospital of Salamanca (Spain). Two versions of the questionnaire to assess caregivers' satisfaction with current treatment and after introducing changes in therapy were created and validated according to model procedures. Once validated, the questionnaires were implemented in 219 cases. RESULTS: Cronbach's α-coefficient, correlation between all the items, intraclass correlation coefficient, and correlation between the obtained scores and satisfaction with blood glucose levels all satisfied the standard for validation. Significant levels of correlation were observed between the degree of satisfaction and the number of daily administrations of the blood glucose-lowering medication (Spearman's r=-0.21, P<0.05). Caregivers of patients receiving more frequent administration of their antidiabetic medication prior to the change were more satisfied with the change (r=0.24, P<0.001). Similarly, significant correlation was found between the number of daily administrations for blood glucose-lowering medication after the change and the degree of satisfaction (r=-0.43, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A useful novel instrument to assess caregivers' satisfaction was validated. When applied to our cohort of cases, the obtained data suggest that simplicity in antidiabetic therapy should be considered in the management of dependent type 2 diabetic patients when caregivers' satisfaction is an additional objective.