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

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.