• Dean A Seehusen, Justin Deavers, Arch G Mainous, and Ledford Christy J W CJW Department of Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA..
• Department of Family and Community Medicine, Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, GA, USA. Electronic address: dseehusen@msn.com.
• Patient Educ Couns. 2018 May 1; 101 (5): 894-899.

ObjectivesPrediabetes (preDM) and diabetes are complex conditions that place significant strain on medical providers. This can have a negative impact on providers' wellbeing and could impact clinical decisions. We investigated the interplay of caring for patients with prediabetes, physician mental wellbeing, and clinical care.MethodsUsing the theory of planned behavior, we conducted a secondary analysis to evaluate physicians' self-reported provision of care to patients with preDM. We evaluated the effect of mental wellbeing and perceived barriers to caring for patients with preDM.ResultsAmong 1015 academic physicians, a greater perception of barriers to care and a higher percentage of patients seen with preDM were both significantly associated with a less positive physician state of mind. Physician state of mind was not associated with self-reported clinical behavior. Physician perception of patient barriers has a positive correlation with their likelihood of prescribing metformin for preDM.ConclusionsCaring for a larger proportion of patients with preDM is associated with worse mental wellbeing. Physician attitudes and subjective norms may predict adherence to guidelines, while physician attitudes and wellbeing affect self-reported prescribing behavior.Practice ImplicationsFuture research should evaluate ways to lessen the psychological burden of caring for patients with diabetes and preDM.Published by Elsevier B.V.

23 keywords...

hide…