Baseline sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, health care practices, and clinical characteristics according to use of specialist care: EDC
| Characteristic | Nonspecialist | Specialist | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| n | 215 | 214 | — |
| Demographic | |||
| Age (years) | 30.5 ± 6.9 | 24.0 ± 7.3 | <0.0001 |
| Duration (years) | 21.5 ± 7.3 | 16.2 ± 6.7 | <0.0001 |
| Sex (%male) | 52.6 (113) | 43.9 (94) | 0.07 |
| Income (earning >$20,000/year) | 86.0 (154) | 86.7 (143) | 0.86 |
| Educational level (beyond high school) | 61.5 (126) | 70.7 (116) | 0.06 |
| Health care practices | |||
| Weekly testing of blood glucose | 50.0 (105) | 65.2 (135) | 0.002 |
| More than two insulin injections per day | 6.7 (14) | 9.2 (19) | 0.34 |
| Saw physician in last year | 78.5 (146) | 90.5 (180) | 0.001 |
| Saw eye doctor in the last 2 years | 67.9 (125) | 74.6 (132) | 0.16 |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| HbA1 (%) | 10.2 ± 1.7 | 10.3 ± 1.8 | 0.35 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 55.0 ± 13.3 | 54.4 ± 1.7 | 0.62 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 116.2 ± 33.1 | 108.2 ± 30.8 | 0.01 |
| Total/cholesterol (mg/dl) | 190.2 ± 38.6 | 180.3 ± 36.8 | 0.007 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl)* | 97.9 ± 69.4 | 93.3 ± 58.5 | 0.54 |
| AER (μg/min) | 347.8 (984.7) | 178.5 (599.1) | 0.0003 |
| Hypertensive | 17.2 (37) | 8.4 (18) | 0.006 |
| Lifestyle behaviors | |||
| Alcohol use (drinks/week) | 4.7 ± 7.8 | 3.9 ± 6.8 | 0.36 |
| Ever smoked | 42.4 (89) | 23.8 (49) | 0.001 |
Data are means ± SD or % (n).
↵* Natural log-transformed before analyses. Specialist care is defined as the percent of diabetes duration spent in specialist care (>65%) compared with nonspecialist care (≤65%).