Improved glycemic control without hypoglycemia in elderly diabetic patients using the ubiquitous healthcare service, a new medical information system

Abstract

OBJECTIVE - To improve quality and efficiency of care for elderly patients with type 2 diabetes, we introduced elderly-friendly strategies to the clinical decision support system (CDSS)-based ubiquitous healthcare (u-healthcare) service, which is an individualized health management system using advanced medical information technology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - We conducted a 6-month randomized, controlled clinical trial involving 144 patients aged >60 years. Participants were randomly assigned to receive routine care (control, n = 48), to the self-monitored blood glucose (SMBG, n = 47) group, or to the u-healthcare group (n = 49). The primary end point was the proportion of patients achieving A1C <7% without hypoglycemia at 6 months. U-healthcare system refers to an individualized medical service in which medical instructions are given through the patient's mobile phone. Patients receive a glucometer with a public switched telephone network-connected cradle that automatically transfers test results to a hospital-based server.Once the data are transferred to the server, an automated system, the CDSS rule engine, generates and sends patient-specific messages by mobile phone. RESULTS - After 6 months of follow-up, the mean A1C level was significantly decreased from 7.8 ±1.3% to 7.4 ± 1.0% (P< 0.001) in the u-healthcare group and from 7.9 ±1.0% to 7.7 ± 1.0%(P = 0.020) in the SMBG group, compared with 7.9±0.8% to 7.861.0% (P=0.274) in the control group. The proportion of patients with A1C <7% without hypoglycemia was 30.6% in the u-healthcare group, 23.4% in the SMBG group (23.4%), and 14.0%in the control group (P< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS - The CDSS-based u-healthcare service achieved better glycemic control with less hypoglycemia than SMBG and routine care and may provide effective and safe diabetes management in the elderly diabetic patients. © 2011 by the American Diabetes Association.