- The majority of the healthcare professionals strongly supported the report format except for three items; (i) the item “Q3: Did the report help you think about changing the treatment you are giving your patient”, where more than one third of the professionals somewhat disagreed, agreed and strongly disagreed and one quarter of the professionals neither agreed nor disagreed, (ii) the item “Q:4 Did the report help your patient understand why the treatment needed to change” where more than one third of the the healthcare professionals neither agreed nor disagreed and more than one quarter of the professionals strongly disagreed, and (iii) the item “Q7: Do you think the report helped your patient to understand what changes they need to make to their lifestyle” where approximately half of the professionals agreed and strongly agreed and approximately one third of the professionals somewhat disagreed, agreed and strongly disagreed.
- The gender of the healthcare professionals only impacted on their perception that the report helped their patients to understand what changes they need to make to their lifestyle; the female healthcare professionals perceived this part higher than male professionals. Other items did not impact on the healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the report.
- The age group of the healthcare professionals impacted on their perceptions of the report. The healthcare professionals from the age group 51-60 years perceived all aspects of the report higher than professionals from the age group 41-50 years.
- The participating clinic impacted on the healthcare professionals’ perception of the report. The healthcare professionals from SMC clinic perceived all aspects of the report lower than professionals from other clinics.
- The job type of healthcare professionals impacted on their perceptions of the report relating to four aspects. Other aspects did not impact on the healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the report. The four aspects are as follow:
- The report made it easy to give the information to the patient
- Did the report help the patient understand the result
- Do you find the report useful in explaining the result to the patient
- Do you think the report helped your patient to understand what changes they need to make to their lifestyle
- 44.7 % of the healthcare professionals reported that the graph was the most useful part in the report and 21.1% and 15.8% of the professionals reported the colours and action plan and colour graph as the most useful parts respectively.
- Approximately one fifth of the healthcare professionals (19.4%) reported that page 2 of the report was the least useful whereas 16.1% reported that it was the Normal HbA1C.
- More than two thirds of the healthcare professionals (72%) will give the report to their patients.
- Approximately one third of the healthcare professionals (29.1%) will give the report to their patients because it is a tool to reinforce the information, and 22.9% of the professionals will give it to patients because it is a tool to refer to and support their patients. One quarter of the healthcare professionals will not give the report to their patients because it is poorly designed and it is not compatible with general practice.