Type 2 diabetes successfully managed online
People with type 2 diabetes could improve their health by using a new web-based self-management tool, according to UCL-led research. The results, published in BMJ Open today, and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), come from the first UK-based trial of its kind and show that patients using the HeLP-Diabetes programme have better diabetes control after 12 months. "Diabetes is an NHS priority, with around 4 million people in England living with type 2 diabetes. This self-management tool offers an evidence based and cost effective way to improve health outcomes, for patients both at the beginning and later on in their diagnosis, that could be offered as part of the current menu of self-management support," said Professor Elizabeth Murray, Head of the Research Department and Co-Director of eHealth Unit (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health). Working with clinicians at Whittington Health and researchers at University of Cambridge, the trial compared diabetes control and diabetes related stress in a randomised group of 374 patients from 21 general practices in England whose average age was just under 65 years. 185 patients used the HeLP-Diabetes programme developed at UCL, and a control group of 189 patients used information from a static, text-based website. Anonymised clinical data were collected for a diabetes control molecule called glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and diabetes related stress data were collected via a patient self-report questionnaire where patients score themselves from 1 to 100 (higher scores indicating more stress) against 20 items focusing on areas that cause difficulty in everyday life.
