Abstract
The objectives of this study were to compare the results of the care services
provided at two primary care settings, a one-stop service clinic of Nongwuasaw
Hospital and the Nonwai Medical Care Center, both located in Udon Thani Province.
A simple random sampling method was used according to the specified criteria in order
to recruit the subjects for study in the period from March to May 2008. As a result,
271 patients from each of the medical centers were obtained. The variables to be
compared were fasting blood sugar levels, other clinical variables, knowledge, practice
and satisfaction of the patients. The questionnaires approved by five experts were used
for collecting study data. The descriptive statistics, number, percentage, mean, standard
deviation, median, minimum and maximum values were used to analyze the data
obtained. The student t-test was used to show the differences in the knowledge,
practice, patientsû satisfaction and the results in controlling the level of the fasting
blood sugar in the blood as well as other parameters; the results were presented along
with the degree of freedom, df, and p-value at the statistically significant level of 0.05.
Most of the subjects (70.1%) were females; the subjects were aged 20-86 years, with
the median age being 58 years and 31.4 percent were 51-60 years old; 74.2 percent
were married and 71.2 percent had completed primary school; the economic status of
almost all of the subjects (97 percent) was at the average level; and they were diabetic
for 3.5 ± 2.2 years. These general characteristics of the subjects of the two centers
were compared, and showed no statistically significant differences. The results of the
clinical parameters, however, showed that the levels of fasting blood sugar and urine
albumin of the DM patients who had received services from the Nonwai Medical
Center were statistically lower than that of the DM patients who had attended the One-
stop Service Clinic of Nongwuasaw Hospital (p-values = 0.003 and 0.05, respectively).
The levels of HbA1c, cholesterol and triglyceride in the blood and the body mass
index of both groups were not statistically different. With regard to DM knowledge,
the patients who had received services at the One-stop Service Clinic of Nongwuasaw
Hospital had lower knowledge scores than those who had received services at the
Nonwai Medical Care Center (p-value < 0.001). However, there was no statistical
difference in terms of practice scores. Patients who had received services at the One-
stop Service Clinic of Nongwuasaw Hospital had significantly lower satisfaction scores
than those who had received services at the Nonwai Medical Care Center (p-value = 0.05).
The study concluded that diabetic care at the Nonwai Medical Care Center is
more efficient than that of the One-stop Service Clinic of Nongwuasaw Hospital.
However, the study had a limitation in that it was not a randomized controlled trial;
therefore, such study is needed in the future to make conclusions.
