The impact of a telehealth intervention on the metabolic profile of diabetes mellitus patients during the COVID-19 pandemic - A randomized clinical trial

Debora Wilke Franco; Janine Alessi; Taíse Rosa de Carvalho; Gabriel Luiz Kobe; Giovana Berger Oliveira; Carolina Padilla Knijnik; Bibiana Amaral; Alice Scalzilli Becker; Beatriz D Schaan; Gabriela Heiden Telo

doi:10.1016/j.pcd.2022.09.011

The impact of a telehealth intervention on the metabolic profile of diabetes mellitus patients during the COVID-19 pandemic - A randomized clinical trial

Prim Care Diabetes. 2022 Dec;16(6):745-752. doi: 10.1016/j.pcd.2022.09.011. Epub 2022 Sep 30.

Affiliations

¹ Post-graduate program in Medicine and Health Sciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Internal Medicine department, Hospital São Lucas - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Post-graduate program in Medical Science: Endocrinology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
³ Post-graduate program in Medicine and Health Sciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Internal Medicine department, Hospital São Lucas - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
⁴ School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
⁵ Post-graduate program in Medical Science: Endocrinology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Endocrinology division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil.
⁶ Post-graduate program in Medicine and Health Sciences, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Internal Medicine department, Hospital São Lucas - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a telehealth intervention on metabolic outcomes and self-perceptions of the patients regarding their management of diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This is a non-blind randomized controlled clinical trial to assess a telehealth intervention. We included adults with diabetes mellitus. The outcomes assessed were the level of HbA1c, lipid profile, blood pressure levels, weight, body mass index and self-perceptions about diabetes management.

Results: A total of 150 individuals with diabetes participated in the study and at the end of telehealth intervention there were no changes in the patient's HbA1c levels between intervention and control groups for neither type 1 (8.1% vs. 8.6%; p = 0.11) nor type 2 diabetes (8.6% vs. 9.0%; p = 0.09), respectively. From the rest of the metabolic profile, triglyceride levels from type 1 diabetes group was the only variable that demonstrated improvement with telehealth intervention (66.5% intervention group vs. 86.5% control group; p = 0.05).

Conclusions: After 4 months of telehealth intervention, no statistically significant results were observed in HbA1c nor in secondary outcomes (with the exception of triglycerides for the type 1 diabetes group).

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04344210.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Diabetes mellitus; Metabolic profile; Social distancing; Telehealth.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1*
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / diagnosis
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / therapy
Glycated Hemoglobin / analysis
Humans
Metabolome
Pandemics
Telemedicine* / methods

Substances

Glycated Hemoglobin A

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04344210