LIFE-LONG MONITORING IN DIABETES MELLITUS

The sample size for Central Greece (Thessaly) is 100 patients for the intervention group and 80 patietns for the control group. The trial duration for an individual participant is minimum 12 months. Potential participants are selected by the hospital database of the Regional University Hospital of Larisa. Candidates are informed about the nature and the objectives of the intervention, they are also informed about their random assignment to an intervention or a control group. Once candidates have signed the informed consent form they are put on the randomisation list.

Patients will have one educational visit to set up the system and explain how it works.Patients will download their measurements from their glucose meter to their mobile phone and the data will be transferred to the regional database. The care team (a nurse specially trained and the allocated physician) will regularly access the patient's home diary, and will provide the appropriate counselling and medication changes as frequently as necessary.

In addition to blood glucose and blood pressure measurements, routine questions about symptoms and eventual difficulties related to diabetes as well as diabetic management will be routinely captured and reported. Patients have the possibility to call the study nurse when they encounter health problems or questions not covered by the routine assessment.

Expected outcomes

The objective within this cluster is to evaluate whether patients with diabetes mellitus can be followed by simplified, centralised and large-scale telemonitoring of blood glucose levels and blood pressure, and whether this intervention produces health and economic benefits when introduced without major changes to the existing organisation of a care center.

 

Other cluster of Region of Central Greece: Cluster 4, Cluster 7