United States Health care Provider Actions That Helped to Make the Decision to Give Insulin a Try—Surveyed Adult Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Experiencing Psychological Insulin Resistance Before Regular Insulin Use, United States, 2017
| Description | Patients with Occurrence (n = 120) | Helpfulness among Patients with Occurrence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | Mean (1–4 Scale of Helpfulness*) | % Helped Moderately or a Lot | |
| HCP walked patient through the whole process of exactly how to take insulin | 91 | (75.8) | 3.19 | (79.1) |
| HCP encouraged the patient to contact his/her office immediately if the patient ran into any problems or had questions after starting insulin | 99 | (82.5) | 3.14 | (75.8) |
| HCP showed patient an insulin pen | 85 | (70.8) | 3.13 | (74.1) |
| HCP had patient try an injection himself/herself while patient was there in the office | 47 | (39.2) | 3.13 | (74.5) |
| HCP told patient that starting insulin could help the patient to live a longer and healthier life | 86 | (71.7) | 3.12 | (79.1) |
| HCP explained to the patient that the final decision to try insulin was patient's, not his/hers | 72 | (60.0) | 3.10 | (72.2) |
| HCP reviewed patient’s blood sugar numbers with the patient, showing the patient that his/her diabetes was not under control and that action was needed | 106 | (88.3) | 3.08 | (73.6) |
| HCP helped patient to see how simple it was to inject insulin | 80 | (66.7) | 3.01 | (76.3) |
| HCP warned patient that he/she was likely to develop complications if the patient did not get started soon with insulin to control his/her diabetes | 85 | (70.8) | 3.00 | (67.1) |
| HCP told patient that blood glucose numbers would improve after patient started insulin | 110 | (91.7) | 2.92 | (70.0) |
| HCP took time to answer all the patient’s questions and address his/her concerns about insulin | 95 | (79.2) | 2.92 | (65.3) |
| HCP told patient that by going on insulin, he/she might soon be able to discontinue other diabetes medications | 55 | (45.8) | 2.89 | (63.6) |
| HCP reassured patient that taking insulin was not going to cause complications, like blindness, kidney disease, or a heart attack | 70 | (58.3) | 2.86 | (62.9) |
| HCP helped patient to see that an insulin injection was not as painful as patient thought it might be | 68 | (56.7) | 2.84 | (61.8) |
| HCP showed patient how small the actual needle was | 70 | (58.3) | 2.81 | (62.9) |
| HCP told patient that starting insulin would help the patient to feel better | 100 | (83.3) | 2.81 | (61.0) |
| HCP explained that insulin was a natural substance that the patient’s body needed | 93 | (77.5) | 2.81 | (64.5) |
| HCP helped patient to understand that taking insulin did not have to be as much of a burden as the patient had feared | 91 | (75.8) | 2.79 | (64.8) |
| HCP gave patient leaflets or other reading material about insulin | 74 | (61.7) | 2.77 | (60.8) |
| HCP helped patient to understand how insulin works in patient’s body to lower blood sugars and improve patient’s health | 93 | (77.5) | 2.76 | (63.4) |
| HCP said that the he/she could not continue to treat patient if the patient refused to start insulin | 21 | (17.5) | 2.76 | (61.9) |
| HCP reassured patient that taking insulin did not mean that diabetes was now a more serious condition | 76 | (63.3) | 2.74 | (56.6) |
| HCP explained that the patient might not have to take insulin forever | 69 | (57.5) | 2.72 | (58.0) |
| HCP told patient about all of the positives and negatives of insulin and explained how the positives outweighed the negatives | 85 | (70.8) | 2.72 | (62.4) |
| HCP took the time to ask the patient about the reasons why the patient did not want to take insulin | 74 | (61.7) | 2.72 | (59.5) |
| HCP and patient talked about the real costs of insulin and insulin supplies and together figured out a way to make it more affordable | 51 | (42.5) | 2.67 | (54.9) |
| HCP encouraged patient to try it for a while and see if it might help the patient feel better | 83 | (69.2) | 2.65 | (54.2) |
| HCP reassured patient that the risk of having a serious problem with hypoglycemia while taking insulin was low | 74 | (61.7) | 2.65 | (51.4) |
| HCP reassured the patient that he/she would help the patient avoid or minimize any weight gain because of taking insulin | 53 | (44.2) | 2.64 | (54.7) |
| HCP gave an injection while patient was there in the office | 36 | (30.0) | 2.64 | (55.6) |
| HCP helped patient to recognize that insulin was more natural than the pills the patient was taking | 60 | (50.0) | 2.63 | (53.3) |
| HCP told patient that he/she just needed to trust that the HCP knew best and that getting started on insulin was the patient’s best option | 69 | (57.5) | 2.62 | (56.5) |
| HCP helped patient get over his/her fears that others would treat the patient differently because he/she were taking insulin | 52 | (43.3) | 2.62 | (53.8) |
| HCP helped patient to realize that insulin wasn’t going to cost patient as much money as the patient feared it would | 57 | (47.5) | 2.60 | (56.1) |
| HCP helped patient meet other people who had already been taking insulin for a while | 17 | (14.2) | 2.53 | (52.9) |
| Repeatedly over many visits, HCP kept trying to convince the patient to get started on insulin | 60 | (50.0) | 2.47 | (48.3) |
| HCP referred patient to a class to help learn more about insulin | 48 | (40.0) | 2.46 | (39.6) |
| HCP warned patient that he/she could not be responsible for what might happen if the patient did not start insulin soon | 40 | (33.3) | 2.45 | (42.5) |
HCP, health care provider.
↵* Level of helpfulness was scored on a scale of 1 (it did not help at all) to 4 (it helped a lot). Items that did not occur for patients were considered missing.