Patient Centered Studies Focusing on Diabetes Self-Management: A Scoping Review

Background: Type 2 diabetes continues to be a significant burden to patients and health systems globally. Addressing this condition from an alternative perspective, patients and various other stakeholders from three northern Mississippi communities co-created patient-centered research questions focused on type 2 diabetes management. Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to explore current literature focusing on nine patient- centered research questions to establish current knowledge and identify future research needs in the area of type 2 diabetes. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to obtain an overview of research related to the study purpose. The PubMed database was searched from March 2013 to March 2018 to identify patient-centered studies focused on type 2 diabetes and relevant to one of the nine research questions. Results: A total of 33 studies were identified and included. For five of the research questions, there was either no previous research literature or only “related” studies could be identified. These largely unexplored topics included how the understanding of guidelines by healthcare providers, specialty, and communication of medication side-effects impact patients’ understanding and outcomes, the impact of improving patients’ preparedness to communicate with providers, and whether younger patients require weight management programs that account for this populations’ needs. Conclusion: This lack of previous literature presents a unique opportunity to partner with patients to conduct this study and help improve the management of type 2 diabetes.