Diabetes Mellitus
Conditions
Keywords
diabetes mellitus, telecare consultation
Brief summary
Telecare consultation, which is defined as a two-way synchronized visual (voice and image) communication between patients and healthcare professionals using telecommunication applications such as Zoom, has become a major trend in recent years. The current COVID-19 pandemic provides an impetus to drive change and increase the uptake of telecare consultation in healthcare. To the best of investigators' knowledge, there is no translational research available that simultaneously implements and evaluates the telecare model of care delivered in a primary care setting. The present study will be the first in Hong Kong to fill this service and knowledge gap in the care of DM patients.
Interventions
PROCEDUREtelecare consultation
Participants will use zoom to communicate with the doctors in clinic.
PROCEDUREUsual face to face consultation
Participants will have face-to-face communication with the doctors in clinic.
Sponsors
Tuen Mun Hospital
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* aged 18 or above, having a confirmed diagnosis of diabetes, having regular follow-ups in the clinic
Exclusion criteria
* having dementia, having unaccompanied hearing or vision loss, not having an Internet connection at home
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| HbA1c, defined as the amount of blood sugar attached to hemoglobin. | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | An HbA1c test shows what the average amount of glucose attached to hemoglobin has been over the past three months. It's a three-month average because that's typically how long a red blood cell lives. The blood glucose level will be measured at baseline pre-intervention, 42 weeks, and 84 weeks by a doctor. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| body mass index, defined as the weight in kilograms divided by height in meters. | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | the change of weight in kilograms divided by height in meters |
| Fasting lipid profile that will be drawn by patient's blood. The profile includes high and low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol level, and triglyceride level | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | Investigators are measuring the change of high- and low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol level, triglyceride level |
| Medication adherence | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | the change of Medication adherence will be determined using the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale. This 12-item scale has a total score ranged from 12 to 48, with lower scores representing better medication adherence. |
| Quality of life, defined by the standard of health, comfort, experienced by diabetic patients, which is measured by SF-12 questionnaire. SF-12 questionnaire can measure the physical and mental health components of quality of life among diabetic patients. | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | Investigators will measure the change of physical and mental health components of quality of life of participants, measured by the Chinese version of Short-form 12-item version 2 scale.The 12 items in the questionnaire included two from each of the physical functioning (PF), role limitation due to physical problems (RP), role limitation due to emotional problems (RE), and mental health (MH) scale and one item from each of the bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), and social functioning (SF) scale of the original SF-36 questionnaires. The items in the questionnaire were rated on Likert-type scales and summed to provide easily interpretable scales for physical and mental health components. Higher scores indicated better quality of life. |
| Number of attendances at a general practitioners' office, emergency department, hospital, and general out-patient clinic | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | To measure the utilization of healthcare services by stroke patient before and after the intervention. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation. It measures the fidelity of the program | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | Use performance checklist to evaluate whether each task of the intervention has been implemented according to the protocol |
| Maintenance. It measures the sustained effect of the program. Cost-effectiveness will be measured by calculating the cost used in both groups. | 84 weeks (T3) | Cost evaluation. |
| Adoption, which means adoption by the staff and setting. It measures the user readiness for the program adoption | baseline pre-intervention (T1), 42 weeks (T2) and 84 weeks (T3) | Use Readiness for Implementation Model Survey to evaluate the adoption success of telecare consultation. |
| Reach, which means reach into the target population. It measures the number of patients who are eligible to receive telecare consultation, excluded, invited. | 84 weeks (T3) | the number of patients who are eligible to receive telecare consultation, excluded, invited to participate, and enrolled in the study |
Countries
Hong Kong
Outcome results
None listed