Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 14, Number 6 > Pp. 295-299

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Nikkanen, T. Articles by Rajala, U. PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

RESEARCH Original articles

Quality of diabetes care among patients managed by teleconsultation

Tuula Nikkanen ^* , Markku Timonen ^*, Kirsti Ylitalo , Olavi Timonen , Sirkka Keinänen-Kiukaanniemi ^*  and Ulla Rajala ^* 

^* Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu; Oulu Arc Subregion, Piisilta 1 Micropolis; Unit of General Practice, Oulu University Hospital, Finland

Correspondence: Mrs Tuula Nikkanen, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Box 5000, FIN-90014 Finland (Fax: +35 8 8537 5661; Email: tuula.nikkanen{at}fimnet.fi)

We studied a new teamwork-based teleconsultation model for treating patients with diabetes, where a specialist in diabetes care, a diabetes nurse and a patient attended by videoconference. The study series consisted of all the patients (n = 101) at three health centres in northern Finland whose care was provided by a single physician at a remote diabetes clinic. A total of 101 patients with diabetes (19 of type 1 and 82 of type 2) were studied at baseline and at 10–14 months after the first consultation. Mean HbA_1c was 8.0% at baseline and 7.6% at follow-up (P = 0.007). The proportion of patients with poor glycaemic control decreased from 32% to 13%. Mean LDL cholesterol was 3.3 mmol/L at baseline and 2.7 mmol/L at follow-up (P < 0.001). The percentage of patients with optimum lipid levels increased from 20% to 50%. Mean systolic blood pressure was 146 mmHg at baseline and had decreased by 6 mmHg at follow-up (P = 0.004). The percentage of patients with poor blood pressure control decreased from 19% to 8%. The most common changes in medication were the introduction or modification of insulin treatment and the introduction of statin and antihypertensive drugs and acetylsalicylic acid. Although the study was uncontrolled, there were improvements in glucose and LDL cholesterol levels and blood pressure in patients who were managed by teleconsultation.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?