Primary Care Services use as a Factor in Glycemic and Cholesterol Management in Type 2 Diabetes: A Retrospective Study

Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the association among regular primary care visits, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: We randomly sampled data from 200 patients’ electronic medical records. Mann–Whitney and chi-square tests were used to investigate the association between glycemic control lipid profile and the number of patient visits. Results: The mean age of the participants was 61.78 years and the average body mass index was 34.5 kg/m2. Females constituted 61.79% of participants. The predominant race seen at the clinic was Black (43.8%), followed by White (42.69%). Patient adherence to scheduled visits was not statistically significantly associated with either HbA1C or LDL (chi-square = 1.1, p-value = 0.29 for HbA1c and chi-square = 1.12, p-value = 0.99 for LDL). Conclusion: In the sample studied, no statistically significant association existed between adherence to primary care visits and either HbA1C or LDL levels. This data can guide physicians to invest on favoring high-quality primary care contact rather than high frequency of visits.