Objective: This clinic-based cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to assess the incidence of delayed treatment-seeking behavior among treatment-naive patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in India.
Methods: This multi-centric, prospective cross sectional real world study was conducted across 20 sites in Mumbai, a metro in western India. Drug naive T2DM Patients who come to study sites for routine consultation were enrolled into the study post taking a study participation consent. Data from 7th September ‘23 to 31st December ‘23 analyzed.
Results: In this study involving 269 enrolled patients (average age 46.3 years, 58% male), the mean HbA1c was 9.5%. Notably, 30% reported delaying treatment by over 3 months after diagnosis. The distribution of the time of diagnosis was as follows: within a month - 41%, 1-2 months - 29%, 3-6 months - 12%, and >6 months - 19%. The mean delay period was 2.2 months. Among patients who delayed treatment, 57% have tried alternative treatments and 43% had relied on lifestyle/diet changes only. Among the alternative treatments tried, 70% had tried Ayurveda, 18% had used homemade remedies, and 12% had tried Homeopathy.
Conclusion: The study highlights a substantial delay in seeking treatment among newly diagnosed T2DM patients in a Metro in India where access to specialists is good. These delays lead to poorer initial glycemic control. This study emphasizes the importance of enhanced population education to start early intervention in the management of T2DM to prevent complications and improve long-term outcomes.
S.M. Patil: None. B. Saboo: None. A. Patil: None. A. Ansari: None. A.C. Gangurde: None. P. Sanghavi: None. M. Singh: None. S.A. Bagri: None. S.N. Dbritto: None. R.M. Surya Shaikh: None. T.N. Shah: None. C.N. Kolhe: None. H.T. Bambhania: None. R.S. Gajare: None. S.M. Jashnani: None. K.R. Shah: None. P.K. Shah: None. S.S. Khot: None.
