Table A-1.

Descriptions of Study Variables

Domain	Variable	Type	Definition	Data Source
Teach-Back Experience	Medical instruction	Binary	Doctors or other health providers gave instructions that were easy to understand	MEPS-Household Component: CAHPS®
	Teach-Back	Binary	Doctors or other health providers asked to describe how to follow the medical instruction given.	MEPS-Household Component: CAHPS®
Patient characteristics: Socioeconomic	Age, years	Categorical	Age when first entered MEPS	MEPS-Household Component
	Sex	Categorical	Gender of respondents during MEPS interview	MEPS-Household Component
	Race/Ethnicity	Categorical	Race/ethnic background	MEPS-Household Component
	Education	Categorical	Highest degree of education attained at the time of interview	MEPS-Household Component
	Family Income	Categorical	Family income as a percentage of poverty	MEPS-Household Component
	Marital Status	Binary (Yes or No)	Current marital status at the time of interview	MEPS-Household Component
	Employment	Binary	Current employment status at the time of interview	MEPS-Household Component
	Immigration Status	Binary	Foreign born status	MEPS-Household Component
	Census Region	Categorical		MEPS-Household Component
	Health Insurance	Categorical	Health insurance coverage and types during the study period	MEPS-Household Component
Patient characteristics: Communication	Perceived English Proficiency	Binary	How well respondents could speak English or how do they feel when conversing in English	MEPS-Household Component
	Hearing Problem	Binary	Indication of whether a respondent had serious difficulty hearing	MEPS-Household Component
Patient characteristics: Clinical/health-related characteristics	General Health Status	Categorical	Perceived health status	MEPS-Household Component
	Current Smoking	Binary	Self-reported current smoking status	MEPS-Household Component
	Obesity	Binary	Self-reported body mass index > 29.9 kg/m²	MEPS-Household Component
	Hypertension	Binary	Indication of a respondent received a diagnosis or was ever told that having high blood pressure by healthcare provider	MEPS-Household Component
	Hyperlipidemia	Binary	Indication of a respondent received a diagnosis or was ever told that having high cholesterol by healthcare provider	MEPS-Household Component
	Asthma	Binary	Indication of a respondent received a diagnosis or was ever told that having high cholesterol by healthcare provider	MEPS-Household Component
	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	Binary	Indication of a respondent received a diagnosis or was ever told that having COPD by healthcare provider	MEPS-Household Component
	Diabetes Care: Lifestyle modification	Binary	Respondents were asked whether they were being treated with diet	MEPS-Diabetes Care Survey
	Diabetes Care: Oral medication	Binary	Respondents were asked whether they were being treated with oral medications	MEPS-Diabetes Care Survey
	Diabetes Care: Insulin injections	Binary	Respondents were asked whether they were being treated with insulin	MEPS-Diabetes Care Survey
Diabetic Complications	CVDs	Binary	Self-reported diagnosis of any CVD or identified conditions using ICD-9 or 10 codes	MEPS-Household Component & Medical Conditions Files
	Kidney problem	Binary	Self-reported kidney problem associated with diabetes or identified conditions using ICD-9 or 10 codes	MEPS-Diabetes Care Survey & Medical Conditions Files
	Eye problem	Binary	Self-reported eye problem associated with diabetes or identified conditions using ICD-9 or 10 codes	MEPS-Diabetes Care Survey & Medical Conditions Files
Hospitalization	All-cause	Binary	Any self-reported hospitalization history or identified hospital admission records	MEPS-Household Component & Hospital Inpatient Stays Files
	Diabetes-specific	Binary	Identified hospital records linked to diabetes using ICD-9 or 10 codes	MEPS-Medical Conditions & Hospital Inpatient Stays Files
	Complication-related	Binary	Identified hospital records linked to diabetic complications using ICD-9 or 10 codes	MEPS-Medical Conditions & Hospital Inpatient Stays Files

ICD, International Classification of Diseases; MEPS, Longitudinal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.