Automated telephone assessment and education with nurse follow up improved self care and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes
QUESTION: Do automated calls with nurse follow up improve self care and glycaemic control in patients with diabetes?
Design
Randomised {allocation concealed}*, unblinded, controlled trial with 12 months of follow up.
Setting
2 general medicine clinics in California, USA.
Patients
280 English or Spanish speaking adults aged ≤75 years who had had diabetes for ≥6 months and were using hypoglycaemic medication. Exclusion criteria were psychotic disorder, disabling sensory impairment, life expectancy <12 months, intention to discontinue receiving services from the clinic within 12 months, or no access to a touchtone telephone. 248 (89%) patients (mean age 55 y, 59% women, 50% hispanic, 29% white) had complete follow up.
Intervention
Patients were allocated to receive the intervention (n=137) or usual care (n=143). The intervention consisted of usual care plus biweekly automated telephone assessment and self care education calls with telephone follow up by a nurse educator. The automated calls, which were available in Spanish and English, lasted between 5 …
