OBJECTIVES: To field test the Diabetes Management Evaluation Tool (DMET), a published questionnaire developed to measure patient satisfaction with diabetes disease management programs (DDMPs). METHODS: Eight DDMPs in five states agreed to participate in the field trial. An updated, 39-item version of the DMET, including 6 domains with questions related to the structure, process, and outcomes of diabetes education, was mailed to identified DDMP participants. The six domains included: I. Meetings; II. Understanding general complications; III.Personal nutrition; IV.Personal physical activity; V.Personal time commitment, VI.Understanding severe complications. Completed survey data was entered into a computerized database and analyzed using SAS (version 8.2). Means for items pertaining to each domain were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) contrasting the six domains. RESULTS: At time of analysis, the survey had a 58% response rate (63 out of 109). Respondents reported a very high level of satisfaction with their DDMP experiences, as the average response for all items was 4.54 out of 5.00 (5-point Likert Scale - 5=highest, 1=lowest). Domain I (meetings) measured the highest satisfaction (, and domain V (time commitment) measured the least satisfaction. Successive ANOVA contrasts revealed significant differences between domain I and the remaining 5 combined domains (F=42.82, df (1,54), p<0.0001). There were significant differences between domains compared pair wise, with the exception of domain III. The two domains indicating lowest satisfaction were V and II. CONCLUSIONS: Responding participants in DDMPs are highly satisfied with their experiences, as reflected by the DMET. However, not all domains measured equal satisfaction levels. Participants were generally more satisfied with the organization of meetings, than with the content, including understanding of general and severe complications, personal nutrition, physical activity, and time commitment. The DMET appears to be a useful tool for assessing satisfaction with DDMPs and identifying areas for improvement.