customer quality and type 2 diabetes from the patients’ perspective: a cross-sectional study

background: quality in health care can be seen as having three principal dimensions: service, technical and customer quality. this study aimed to measure customer quality in relation to self-management of type 2 diabetes. methods: a cross-sectional survey of 577 type 2 diabetes people was carried out in australia. the 13-item patient activation measure was used to evaluate customer quality based on self-reported knowledge, skills and confidence in four stages of self-management. all statistical analyses were conducted using spss 13.0. results: all participants achieved scores at the level of stage 1, but ten percent did not achieve score levels consistent with stage 2 and a further 16% did not reach the actual action stage. seventy-four percent reported capacity for taking action for self-management and 38% reported the highest customer quality score and ability to change the action by changing health and environment. participants with a higher education attainment, better diabetes control status and those who maintain continuity of care reported a higher customer quality score, reflecting higher capacity for self-management. conclusion: specific capacity building programs for health care providers and people with type 2 diabetes are needed to increase their knowledge and skills; and improve their confidence to self-management, to achieve improved quality of delivered care and better health outcomes.