Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31729951›Full record

ArticleBMC family practice2019

Clinic and patient variation in intermediate clinical outcomes for type 2 diabetes: a multilevel analysis.

Yvonne Mei Fong Lim, Swee Hung Ang, Nazrila Hairizan Nasir, Fatanah Ismail, Siti Aminah Ismail, Sheamini Sivasampu

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC family practice, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 43% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Hypertension in Adults With Diabetes in Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2025
    Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Yvonne Mei Fong LimInstitute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. limmf@crc.gov.my.ORCID 0000-0002-3404-0153
Swee Hung AngInstitute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Nazrila Hairizan NasirFamily Health Development Division, Public Health Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Level 4, Block E6, Complex E, 62590, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Fatanah IsmailFamily Health Development Division, Public Health Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Level 4, Block E6, Complex E, 62590, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Siti Aminah IsmailInstitute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Sheamini SivasampuInstitute for Clinical Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, No.1, Jalan Setia Murni U13/52, Setia Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
Ministry of Health · MY

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVariation at different levels of diabetes care has not yet been quantified for low- and middle-income countries. Understanding this variation and its magnitude is important to guide policy makers in designing effective interventions. This study aims to quantify the variation in the control of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) for type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients at the clinic and patient level and determine patient and clinic factors associated with control of these outcomes in T2D.

methodsThis is a cross-sectional study within the baseline data from the impact evaluation of the Enhanced Primary Health Care (EnPHC) intervention on 40 public clinics in Malaysia. Patients aged 30 and above, diagnosed with T2D, had a clinic visit for T2D between 01 Nov 2016 and 30 April 2017 and had at least one HbA1c, SBP and LDL-C measurement within 1 year from the date of visit were included for analysis. Multilevel linear regression adjusting for patient and clinic characteristics was used to quantify variation at the clinic and patient levels for each outcome.

resultsVariation in intermediate clinical outcomes in T2D lies predominantly (93% and above) at the patient level. The strongest predictors for poor disease control in T2D were the proxy measures for disease severity including duration of diabetes, presence of microvascular complications, being on insulin therapy and number of antihypertensives. Among the three outcomes, HbA1c and LDL-C results provide greatest opportunity for improvement.

conclusionClinic variation in HbA1c, SBP and LDL-C accounts for a small percentage from total variation. Findings from this study suggest that standardised interventions need to be applied across all clinics, with a focus on customizing therapy based on individual patient characteristics.

Indexed as

Blood PressureCholesterol, LDLCross-Sectional StudiesDiabetes Mellitus, Type 2FemaleGlycated HemoglobinHumansMalaysiaMaleMiddle AgedTreatment OutcomeCholesterol, LDLGlycated Hemoglobinhemoglobin A1c protein, humanIntermediate outcomesMultilevel analysisType 2 diabetesVariation

Identifiers

PMID31729951
PMCPMC6857311
OpenAlexW2990432860

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.