BACKGROUND: Telehealth initiatives offer valuable alternatives for enhancing diabetes management and clinician-patient engagement. This study compared two diabetes education approaches for glycemic outcomes: standard method includes regular physical visits at outpatient clinic versus telemonitoring. METHODS: We conducted an interventional trial involving 140 pediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes (T1D), who were equally randomized into a telecounseling group (Intervention group, n = 70) and a standard care group (Control group, n = 70). Participants in Intervention group received weekly telephone consultations from diabetes educators, during which glucose records, dietary patterns, and insulin dose adjustments were reviewed. Control group received diabetes education during routine outpatient clinic visits. Both groups were followed up initially at the start of the study and at 6 months. Socioeconomic status and quality of life (QoL) were assessed in all participants. RESULTS: Glycemic control differed significantly between groups. Mean HbA1c values were 8.21 ± 1.82 SDS (Intervention group) versus 9.25 ± 2.22 SDS (Control group). Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) episodes were higher in Control group (18%) vs. (1.7%) in Intervention group, p = 0.001. Complication rates (lipodystrophy, proteinuria, dyslipidemia) were elevated in Control group (37.7%) vs. (15.5%) in Intervention group, p = 0.01. Intervention group demonstrated significantly improved QoL scores (p = 0.002). CONCLUSION: The telemedicine strategy helped to achieve significantly greater HbA1c reductions and fewer diabetes-related complications versus conventional care.
Fawaz et al. (Tue,) studied this question.