Self-reported receipt of preventive practices and its associated factors among adults with diabetes in the United States

Previous studies indicated that a high proportion of adults with diabetes do not receive recommended preventive care in the United States. Nevertheless, a comprehensive evaluation of the factors associated with the receipt of most recommended preventive care measures collectively is lacking. Therefore, this study describes the utilization of multiple preventive care measures collectively. Moreover, this paper aims to identify factors associated with receiving the recommended preventive care. A cross-sectional study design was implemented using data from multiple panels (2009–2015) of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The sample included adults aged 21 years or older with diabetes (n = 8415). The outcome for this study was either receiving five selected preventive care measures (HbA1c tests, cholesterol tests, foot examinations, dilated eye examinations, and influenza vaccines) collectively or not. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed among all adults with diabetes, those with multimorbidity, chronic kidney disease (CKD) or eye complications. Adults with diabetes were poorly adherent to receiving the five preventive care measures collectively (15.6%). Among all adults with diabetes, factors associated with receiving all the selected preventive practices included age, education, health insurance, prescription drug coverage, duration of diabetes, number of chronic conditions and smoking status. Similar results were observed among adults with multimorbidity. Among adults with CKD, those with private insurance and drug prescription coverage were more likely to receive the recommended practices. The findings suggest low adherence to receiving all five recommended practices. It is crucial to increase the awareness about the need for all the recommended practices among adults with diabetes.