TeleHealth Improves Diabetes Self-Management in an Underserved Community
Diabetes TeleCare
- Richard M. Davis, MD1,
- Angela D. Hitch, MSPH2,
- Muhammad M. Salaam, BS2,
- William H. Herman, MD3,
- Ingrid E. Zimmer-Galler, MD4 and
- Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PHD5
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
- 2Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina;
- 3Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan;
- 4Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland;
- 5Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
- Corresponding author: Richard M. Davis, richard_davis{at}med.unc.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To conduct a 1-year randomized clinical trial to evaluate a remote comprehensive diabetes self-management education (DSME) intervention, Diabetes TeleCare, administered by a dietitian and nurse/certified diabetes educator (CDE) in the setting of a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in rural South Carolina.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Participants were recruited from three member health centers of an FQHC and were randomized to either Diabetes TeleCare, a 12-month, 13-session curriculum delivered using telehealth strategies, or usual care.
RESULTS Mixed linear regression model results for repeated measures showed a significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin (GHb) in the Diabetes TeleCare group from baseline to 6 and 12 months (9.4 ± 0.3, 8.3 ± 0.3, and 8.2 ± 0.4, respectively) compared with usual care (8.8 ± 0.3, 8.6 ± 0.3, and 8.6 ± 0.3, respectively). LDL cholesterol was reduced at 12 months in the Diabetes TeleCare group compared with usual care. Although not part of the original study design, GHb was reduced from baseline to 12 and 24 months in the Diabetes TeleCare group (9.2 ± 0.4, 7.4 ± 0.5, and 7.6 ± 0.5, respectively) compared with usual care (8.7 ± 0.4, 8.1 ± 0.4, and 8.1 ± 0.5, respectively) in a post hoc analysis of a subset of the randomized sample who completed a 24-month follow-up visit.
CONCLUSIONS Telehealth effectively created access to successfully conduct a 1-year remote DSME by a nurse CDE and dietitian that improved metabolic control and reduced cardiovascular risk in an ethnically diverse and rural population.
Footnotes
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Clinical Trials reg. no. NCT00288132, clinicaltrials.gov.
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- © 2010 by the American Diabetes Association.
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