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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The impact of patients’ involvement in cooking on their mortality and morbidity: A 19-year follow-up of patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus

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Pages 33-39 | Received 04 Apr 2014, Accepted 30 Nov 2014, Published online: 16 Jan 2015
 

Abstract

Objective. This study explored the impact of involvement in cooking on long-term morbidity and mortality among patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Design and subjects. Data are from the population-based study Diabetes Care in General Practice. In baseline questionnaires, 1348 patients newly diagnosed with T2DM gave information on how frequently they consumed a warm main meal and how often they cooked it themselves. The selected patients were followed up for 19 years in the Danish National Patient Registry and the Danish Register of Causes of Death. Main outcome measures. This study analysed the association between involvement in cooking and each of seven pre-specified outcomes was analysed in Cox regression models with stepwise adjustment for possible confounders and mediators. Results. 92% of the patients with T2DM consumed a warm main meal = five times per week. Among these, women who cooked for themselves less than once a week had a higher risk of diabetes-related deaths (HR 1.86 [95% CI 1.03–3.35], p = 0.039) and stroke (HR 2.47 [95% CI 1.08–5.65], p = 0.033), after adjustment for confounders. For men, infrequent cooking was not related to increased risk for the outcomes investigated. Conclusions. In patients newly diagnosed with T2DM and with a regular intake of warm main meals, infrequent involvement in cooking was associated with an increased risk of diabetes-related death and stroke for women, but not for men. General practitioners should pay special attention to managing diabetes treatment in female patients newly diagnosed with T2DM who report infrequent involvement in cooking.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the patients and general practitioners who volunteered to take part in this study. They acknowledge the assistance of W. Karlslund, The Research Unit for General Practice, Copenhagen.

Funding

Major funding for this and the DCGP study was received from the Danish Medical Research Council, the Danish Research Foundation for General Practice, the Health Insurance Foundation, the Danish Ministry of Health, Novo Nordisk Farmaka Denmark, the Pharmacy Foundation, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Ethical approval

The Copenhagen and Frederiksberg Research Ethics Committee approved this study.

Declaration of interest

There are no conflicts of interest in connection with the paper. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary material, Appendix I–IV.