Newly Diagnosed Diabetes Patients Impact Health Behavior in Their Partner

Behavior change in health is observed in partners of newly diagnosed diabetes patients than partners of people without the disease, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Annals of Family Medicine.// Among more than 180,000 couples in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California health plan from 2007-2011, partners of patients with newly-diagnosed diabetes had higher rates of participation in weight management classes, use of medications to stop smoking, glucose screening, clinically meaningful weight loss, lipid screening, influenza vaccination, and blood pressure screening compared to partners of people without diabetes. Even when clinicians did not focus on family members' lifestyle, partners of people with newly diagnosed diabetes exhibited small but significantly higher levels of behavioral change than their counterparts in other households. According to the authors, a diabetes diagnosis may be a teachable moment for family members and an opportunity to reduce their risk of developing diabetes. The authors call for a new focus on health risk interventions not just for individuals but families and social networks.



Source-Eurekalert