TRIAD welcomes all health, medical, and research professionals to this section. Here, you will learn more specifically how the study conducted its research -- primarily through the use of developed surveys that took place in the form of either written or computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI). In addition, you will find more detail on participant eligibility criteria, what the study evaluated and other types of data sources used and records collected to help with the data analysis process.
TRIAD authorizes the public to use any study instrument listed further below. These documents were created for the sole purpose of surveying study participants in an effort to answer specific research questions. However, these documents may be modified to meet the user’s specific research and data collection needs. TRIAD simply requests that persons who choose to use any of the study instruments in their entirety or in part, reference the study as its source. TRIAD as an entity, or its investigators, sponsors or project affiliates cannot be held liable for improper use or misuse of any document.
Study Description
TRIAD is a multicenter prospective cohort study. It includes data collected at baseline (round 1) from approximately 12,000 individuals during 2000-2001, follow-up data (round 2) collected 18-months later from approximately 9,000 of the original participants during 2002-2003, and a second follow-up (round 3) collected data from approximately 6,000 individuals of the original cohort of participants during 2005. Data were also collected from health plans, provider groups, and individual providers.
The eligibility criteria for participants were persons:
- ≥18 years of age,
- community-dwelling,
- not pregnant,
- had diabetes for ≥ 1 year,
- spoke English or Spanish,
- were continuously enrolled in their health plan for ≥18 months,
- used ≥1 service during that time, and
- could provide informed consent.
Patient data were obtained through surveys, medical record reviews, and administrative data. The patient survey - administered either by computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) or in writing - assessed the following:
- socio-demographic characteristics,
- diabetes care services received,
- general health status,
- quality of life measures,
- SF-12 Health Survey – www.sf-36.org/copyright.shtml
The (Short Form) SF-12® is a subset of the SF-36® and provides physical and mental health summary measures based on the assessment of performance measures: - General health status
- Functional health status
- Impairment in daily activities as a result of physical health
- Impairment in daily activities as a result of emotional health
- Functional status related to pain
- Functional status related to emotions
- Impairment of social activities
- EQ-5D [EuroQOL survey – www.euroqol.org], more specifically is a descriptive system of health-related quality of life states consisting of five dimensions:
- mobility,
- self-care,
- usual activities,
- pain/discomfort, and
- anxiety/depression each of which can take one of three responses.
- access to care,
- patient satisfaction with care,
- Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System (CAHPS www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp), which are standardized surveys that ask consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health care.
- diabetes education received,
- participation in self-care activities,
- disease management,
- and financial barriers.
The responses record three levels of severity [no problems/some or moderate problems/extreme problems] within a particular EQ-5D dimension).
Respondents were also asked to identify their primary care physicians or primary providers of diabetes care and to consent to medical record review. The outpatient medical records that were located for respondents who gave consent were used for the medical record review. Trained abstractors recorded information on processes and outcomes of care that occurred during the 18-months before the patient survey from paper and electronic medical records.
For detailed information on the TRIAD study design see The Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD): a multi-center study of diabetes in managed care. TRIAD Study Group, Diabetes Care; 2002 Feb; 25(2); 386-9.
Any standardized questions that require approval for use or acknowledgement of the source are indicated in the instrument.
Several patient surveys were translated into Spanish. The Spanish language versions are provided where available.
All instruments are in PDF format, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and read. If you would like to download a free copy of Acrobat Reader, click on the link below and follow the site instructions.
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