Web-based telemedicine for management of type 2 diabetes through glucose uploads: a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a telemedicine system based on internet in the follow-up of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A prospective randomized telemedicine study with two parallel groups was designed. 114 patients diagnosed T2DM were randomly divided into telemedicine group and traditional face-to-face visit group as control. 57 cases were included for each group. 108 patients completed the trial, in which 53 cases in telemedicine group and 55 cases in control group. Patients in telemedicine group were taught to use telemedicine software to upload their blood glucose and other metabolic information at home at least every 2 weeks, and the researchers gave proper advices according to patients' key behaviors. The telemedicine interval is 3 months. RESULTS: Compared to control group, telemedicine group exhibited better HbA1c and fasting blood glucose controlling (P < 0.05). Moreover, telemedicine intervention decreased hypoglycemia risk (P = 0.044), and contributed to levels of HbA1c less than 7% which is the target of our study (P = 0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine system can provide a tighter glycemic control for the treatment of T2DM patients, especially in cases with difficulties to access to the medical centre.