Accessibility and utilization of healthcare services among diabetic patients: Is diabetes a poor man’s ailment?

Table 2 Accessibility of healthcare services among diabetic patients

Publication year	Objective(s)	Design	Data collection	Results	Ref.
2018	The study examined diabetic patients’ access to hemoglobin A1c testing in rural Africa	Review	-	The study proposed that routine access to hemoglobin A1c testing would allow for close monitoring of diabetes control as well as provide critical data informing the population level of diabetes complications. The study equally revealed that the major limitation for rural patients’ access to health care included high-cost medical services and a lack of preservative facilities	[10]
2005	The study assessed the barriers to care for patients with insulin-requiring diabetes	Rapid assessment protocol	Interviews, discussions, and site visits	The study revealed that several factors limited patients’ access to diabetes care, which included inadequate supply, the problem of quantification of need, equitable distribution of insulin, and unavailability of syringes and testing equipment	[11]
2019	This study analyzed the diabetes-related information routine in Kwazulu Natal	Descriptive survey	Data from the District Health information system of South Africa	The study revealed that the number of diabetic patients seeking medical care increased 305% between 2006 to 2015, while the number of defaulters has decreased since 2012	[26]
2015	The study investigated females’ experience with diabetes care in Soweto, a township of Johannesburg	Qualitative study	Interview	The study revealed that females identified structural barriers such as overcrowded clinics and poor access to medicines as hindering treatment adherence	[27]
2012	This study examined the association between access to health care and diabetes control	Correlational research	National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, current health insurance coverage	The study revealed that lack of access to health care was linked with severe diabetic ailments. Diabetes control was associated with insurance coverage and some healthcare visits	[28]
2022	The study examined diabetes care factors and assessed their relative importance	Cross-sectional study	Survey questionnaire	The study revealed that accessibility of diabetes care, availability of diabetes services, quality of diabetes care, diabetes management strategies, a health system’s basic amenities, and health education resources played a significant role in providing diabetes care services	[29]
2019	The study aimed to comprehend the factors that affected the utilization of DRSS and follow-up to inform health promotion strategies and improve the uptake of these services	Qualitative study	Focus group discussion	The study found that several factors affected patient uptake of diabetic retinopathy screening services, which included a lack of knowledge of both conditions and the need for screening, economic reasons, institutional factors, long waiting times at eye clinics, and fear of discomfort among others	[30]

DRSS: Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale.