Telehealth use and its impact on clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diabetes Obes Metab
; 26(1): 118-125, 2024 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37726978
ABSTRACT
AIM:
To evaluate the impact of telehealth use during the COVID-19 pandemic on glycaemic control and other clinical outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes.METHODS:
We used electronic health records from the Research Action for Health Network (REACHnet) database for patients with type 2 diabetes who had telehealth visits and those who only received in-person care during the pandemic. A quasi-experimental method of difference-in-difference with propensity-score weighting was implemented to mitigate selection bias and to control for observed factors related to telehealth use. Outcomes included glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and other clinical measures (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol, blood pressure [BP], and body mass index [BMI]).RESULTS:
Patients using telehealth had better HbA1c control compared to those receiving in-person care only during the pandemic. The telehealth group saw a significant average decrease of 0.146% (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.178% to -0.1145%; P < 0.001) in HbA1c levels over time. The proportion of patients with average HbA1c levels >7% decreased by 0.023 (95% CI -0.034, -0.011; P < 0.001) in the treatment group relative to the comparison group. Modest benefits in the control of LDL cholesterol levels, diastolic BP, and BMI were found in association with telehealth use.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings suggest that telehealth services contributed to better glycaemic control and management of other clinical outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes during the pandemic. Factors unmeasured in this study would need to be further explored to better understand the impact of telehealth.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article