We conducted a randomized controlled trial for 12 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes living in a rural part of Korea. The intervention group (n = 35) was managed by a diabetes centre which provided specialized management mediated by a primary health-care nurse who used a PDA-type blood glucometer with a bar code detector to measure the capillary glucose levels. The control group (n = 36) received usual care. Compared with baseline, HbA(1c) was significantly reduced at three-month follow-up in the intervention group (8.0% vs. 7.5%; P < 0.01), but not in the control group. Total cholesterol was significantly reduced in the intervention group (10.7 mmol/L vs. 10.4 mmol/L; P = 0.043). Fasting plasma glucose and triglyceride levels were lower at follow-up in both groups, but the difference was not significant. The new system could be implemented widely and would contribute to improving the quality of diabetes care, even in isolated rural areas.
This study investigated the effects of a nurse-coordinated intervention on patients with type 2 diabetes in Korea. Fifteen patients were randomly assigned to an intervention group and 10 to a control group. The intervention was implemented for 12 weeks by telephone. Patients in the intervention group had a mean decrease of 1.2% in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA(1C)) levels and those in the control group had a mean increase of 0.5%. Patients' satisfaction with care was higher in the intervention group than in the control group after the intervention. These findings indicated that the nurse-coordinated intervention could improve HbA(1C) levels and satisfaction with care in patients with type 2 diabetes in Korea.
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