Factors associated with diabetes control : results of a 2-year cohort study of outpatients with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a typical lifestyle disease. We aimed to identify the factors affecting glycemic control in 64 outpatients with type 2 diabetes over a 2-year period. We defined poor glycemic control using a change in glycosylated hemoglobin (Delta HbA1c) of >= 0.5% over 2 years and/or HbA1c >= 7.5% at the end of the study period. We used a questionnaire to collect information on oral health behavior and lifestyle, including eating and smok-ing habits, and analyzed the relationships between indices of diabetes control and responses to the question-naire. The mean (SD) HbA1c of the participants was 6.87% (0.77%) at a baseline, and 6.93% (0.69%) after 2 years. Twenty-three participants (36.0%) had poor glycemic control. Delta HbA1c and the change in body mass index (Delta BMI) correlated (Spearman's rank correlation, r = 0.350, p < 0.01). The HbA1c at baseline was associated with eating slowly/ chewing well, and Delta BMI was associated with perceived oral symptoms. Binominal logistic regression anal- ysis revealed that poor glycemic control was associated with Delta BMI and a smoking habit (odds ratio : 1.62, 95% confidence interval : 1.08-2.42 ; and 4.01, 1.12-14.36, respectively). These findings imply that weight gain and a smoking habit are associated with poor glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. J. Med. Invest. 70 : 28-33, February, 2023