Health behaviors and health services accessibility factors associated with diabetes: a propensity score matching analysis

Introduction: This study aims to explore diabetes prevalence and to identify the associated health behaviors and accessibility factors. Despite increasing burden of diabetes in Turkey, there is a lack of information regarding associated factors with diabetes.Methods: Data gathered from TurkStat-Health Survey for the year 2014. 1996 individuals who had reported diabetes were matched to similar non-diabetes participants in terms of socio-demographic characteristics and comorbidities by using 1:1 nearest matching based on estimated propensity scores.Results: The weighted point prevalence of diabetes among adults was 8.98%. Compared with smokers, non-smokers were less likely to develop diabetes (OR:0.96; 95% CI:0.95–0.97). Individuals engaging in regular physical activity were less likely to have experienced diabetes than individuals not engaging in any physical activity (OR:0.51; 95% CI:0.41–0.52). Conclusions: Improving the health behaviors of individuals and promoting a culture of exercise and healthy food consumption are necessary strategies to fight against diabetes in Turkey. Collaborations between health professionals will provide many lights for effective clinical decision making and preparations of diabetes self-management programs. Crisper understanding of associated health behaviors and health services accessibility factors associated with diabetes is beneficial to develop better nursing plans for patients.