Projects / Programmes
The proportion of patients with diabetes type 2 who don’t treat disease with medication and the proportion of people with an unrecognized diabetes
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.08.00 |
Medical sciences |
Public health (occupational safety) |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B680 |
Biomedical sciences |
Public health, epidemiology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 3.03 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
Health sciences |
Diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, epidemiology, impaired fasting glucose, impaired GT, FINDRISC, diagnosis, health care interventions
Researchers (7)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
05373 |
PhD Ivan Eržen |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Head |
2019 - 2021 |
671 |
| 2. |
39476 |
Maša Hribar |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
61 |
| 3. |
34122 |
Aleš Korošec |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
307 |
| 4. |
26411 |
Darja Lavtar |
Sociology |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
219 |
| 5. |
24300 |
PhD Igor Pravst |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
317 |
| 6. |
27897 |
PhD Jelka Zaletel |
Metabolic and hormonal disorders |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
645 |
| 7. |
38419 |
Metka Zaletel |
Public health (occupational safety) |
Researcher |
2019 - 2021 |
263 |
Organisations (2)
Abstract
National Diabetes Program 2010-2020 is a strategic document of Slovenia aimed at reducing the incidence of type 2 diabetes, preventing type 2 diabetes in people at high risk, early diagnosis of diabetes and reducing complications and diabetes mortality. Diabetes is one of the most common reasons why the inhabitants of Slovenia visit a doctor, while extending life expectancy and aging of the population will additionally increase these needs. In order to evaluate the activities that are already being implemented and to guide further activities in Slovenia, a high-quality analysis is needed to evaluate the prevalence of diabetes in people with specific characteristics, the estimation of the proportion of patients who are treating diabetes without drugs and the estimate of the proportion of those patients whose diabetes is not yet detected.
The prevalence of diabetes in certain population subgroups, in particular in relation to age, gender, socioeconomic status and geographical area of residence, is important for assessing the current burden of the disease and for predicting the needs in the future. These analyses can lead to adaptation of measures in the health system and, depending on the needs identified, also outside health system. A more accurate estimate of the proportion of patients who are treating diabetes without drugs will enable a more accurate calculation of the number of patients with diabetes in Slovenia, since until now we used the estimate of the proportion based on literature from other countries. This will also improve the accuracy of calculating the burden of the disease today and in the future. Above all, in order to be accurate in predicting the burden in the future, a reliable estimate of the proportion of patients who already have diabetes but who are not already aware of it and their characteristics are important. Such an analysis is also a key feedback on the effectiveness of existing prevention and early detection programs for diabetes and a basis for adjusting measures in this area.
The aims of the research project proposal are therefore to determine the prevalence of diabetes in subgroups of the population with certain characteristics (age, gender, socio-economic status, geographical area of residence), to estimate the proportion of those patients with diabetes treated without drugs, to estimate the proportion of the patients in which diabetes is not yet diagnosed, and to develop a proposal and recommendations for the development, implementation and evaluation of programs for the prevention and early diagnosis of diabetes.
An analysis of the prevalence of diabetes in population subgroups and an estimate of the proportion of those patients who have non-drug treated diabetes will, if the proposal for a research project is accepted, be drawn upon the data from the National Health and Health System Survey 2019, run by National Institute of Public Health. Methodologically it is a cross-sectional survey using a survey questionnaire based on the European Health Interview Survey. A sample of 16,000 inhabitants is invited to participate. The database contains sets of questions about health status, health markers and health care, and contains all the information that the proposal of the research project covers. Secondary analyses of the collected data will also allow us to evaluate some other characteristics of the population, such as, for example, lifestyle characteristics, body weight, score by FINDRISC for the assessment of the risk of diabetes, and considering that the survey is conducted for the third time, some of the trends that are important for the analysis of future needs and proper planning of the activity in the future can also be developed.
In order to prepare a methodologically relevant assessment of the proportion of patients with diabetes in Slovenia in whom diabetes is not yet diagnosed, a cross-sectional survey will be carried out using a Health Examination Survey approach
Significance for science
Analyses of the characteristics of patients with diabetes (age, gender, socioeconomic status, geographical characteristics), better estimate of the total number of patients with diabetes, assessment of the proportion of patients with undiagnosed diabetes and analysis of their characteristics are important for the development of public health, diabetology and family medicine professions. The professional societies will have an opportunity to develop the response of the profession to the actual situation of diabetes in Slovenia, such as clinical guidelines, recommendations and the development of practices and programmes, adapted to the needs of the patients/persons.
Significance for the country
The Vision (until 2050) and Strategy (until 2030) of Slovenia's development both recognize investment in health and health system as one of the key elements for the development of the economy. The existing data indicate that the incidence of diabetes is moving to earlier periods of life and that the peak of incidence is already evident in the period of the working population. The results of this research can also help to create workplace health promotion measures and to improve the workability of patients with diabetes.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2020
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
