The Effect of Online Support of an Internet Plus Shared Care Diabetes Management Model on Metabolic Indicators for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the influences of online support of an Internet plus Shared Care diabetes management model on metabolic indicators and the differences before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Method: Type 2 diabetes patients who visited the Peking University First Hospital Internet plus Shared Care clinic from May 18, 2020 to June 20, 2020 (after the COVID-19 pandemic subsided) were enrolled in the study. The age, gender, usage of insulin, and duration of diabetes of the patients were collected. The glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), interval between two consecutive visits, communication frequencies with online diabetes educators through an app, online self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and upload count and SMBG pairing count (before–after meal) were collected before (prior to January 20, 2020) and after (from May 18, 2020 to June 20, 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic for logistic regression analysis. The R-3.4.4 and TWANG programs were used for analysis. The group of patients whose HbA1c did not change during the pandemic was the control group, while the group of patients with improved HbA1c was the dependent variable. Independent variables included age, gender, duration of disease, insulin usage, online communication amount, SMBG count, and SMBG pairing count. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied with age, duration, gender, body mass index (BMI), HbA1c, low density lipoprotein- cholesterol (LDL-C), and blood pressure (BP) at baseline as the concomitant variable. After the PSM weighting, the average treatment effect (ATE) of post-pandemic BMI, HbA1c, LDL-C, and BP was compared with the baseline. Results: A total of 387 patients were enrolled in the study including 184 female (47.5%). The baseline values were the following: age, 61.7±9.4 year;, duration of diabetes, 11.7±8.2 years; BMI, 25.9±3.8Kg/m2; HbA1c, 7.2±1.3%; LDL-C, 2.49±0.85mmol/L; systolic BP, 130.8±14.9 mmHg; and diastolic BP, 81.1±40.9 mmHg. Among variables, online communication amounted to a statistically significant contribution to the HbA1c improvement after the COVID-19 pandemic (OR=2.178, p=0.003). During the pandemic, each patient received 18 (3, 56) times online communication support per quarter. Patients were divided into four groups by quartiles: Q1 (more than 56 times/quarter, n=95), Q2 (18–56 times/quarter, n=97), Q3 (3–18 times/quarter, n=93), and Q4 (0–3 times/quarter, n=102). After PSM, post-pandemic data showed significant differences. Between-group variance was found in HbA1c (Q1 vs. Q3, -0.42±0.16%, p=0.009; Q1 vs. Q4, -0.53±0.15%, p=0.0009) and BMI (Q1 vs. Q3, -1.2±0.5, p=0.02; Q1 vs. Q4 -1.5±0.7, p=0.01) of patients.Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, high-quality online support of the Internet plus Shared Care diabetes management model can significantly improve the HbA1c and BMI of type 2 diabetes patients.

Detecting young people with mental disorders: a cluster-randomised trial of multidisciplinary health teams at the GP office

BackgroundYoung people with mental health challenges present a major global challenge. More than half of adults with mental disorders experience their onset before age 14, but early detection and intervention may change this course. Shared care with mental health professionals in general practitioner (GP) offices has demonstrated its potential for improvement in these conditions.AimTo investigate whether shared care with mental health professionals in GP offices increases the detection of youth’s mental health disorders and is associated with a decrease in use of unspecified symptom diagnoses, as a whole and stratified by patient and physician gender and age, and type of consulting physician.Design and settingThis was a stratified cluster-randomised controlled trial with data extraction from electronic records. Two GP offices were recruited from each of three boroughs. Each borough had 3–8 GP offices. One GP office was randomised to the intervention group and the other to the control group.MethodWe used generalised linear mixed models to assess whether the intervention helped GPs identify more International Classification of Primary Care 2 diagnoses of depression, anxiety and unspecified symptoms in youth.ResultsOver a 18-month period between between 2015 and 2017, the intervention helped GPs identify more youth with anxiety (p=0.002 for interaction), but not depression. The increase was most significant among the patients’ regular GPs, less when patients met other GPs and least among external substitute physicians. The frequency of diagnoses with unspecified symptoms decreased in the intervention arm.ConclusionShared care with mental health professionals located in GP office contributed to increased detection of youth with anxiety symptoms. The increase was most prominent when the primary care physician was the patient’s regular GP. GPs need to pay greater attention to detecting anxiety in youth and embrace shared care models, thereby contributing to reduced mental health disorders in this age group.Trial registration numberNCT03624829; Results.

Diabetes, Durchblutung und Diabetischer Fuß

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGDiabetes mellitus (DM) gehört neben Rauchen, arteriellem Hypertonus und Hyperlipoproteinämie zu den Hauptrisikofaktoren der peripheren arteriellen Verschlusskrankheit (pAVK). Mit zunehmender Diabetesdauer nehmen mikro- und makrovaskuläre Veränderungen zu. Die finale Komplikation am Bein, sowohl der pAVK als auch des diabetischen Fußsyndroms (DFS) ist die Ober- oder Unterschenkelamputation (Majoramputation). Eine pAVK erhöht das Risiko einer Wundheilungsstörung, Infektion und Amputation. Bei Patienten mit DM wird daher die regelmäßige Erhebung des Gefäßstatus empfohlen. Absolut notwendig ist sie bei allen Patienten mit DFS. Die wichtigste Untersuchung ist die farbkodierte Duplexsonografie (FKDS) der Beinarterien. Zu den klinischen Zeichen der Polyneuropathie (PNP) gehören Muskelatrophien und Hyperkeratosen. Häufig liegt bei DFS-Patienten mit Fußulzera eine reduzierte oder fehlende Schmerzempfindung (Nozizeption) vor. Bei Patienten mit DM und pAVK steht neben der Therapie vaskulärer Risikofaktoren und Begleiterkrankungen die Verbesserung des peripheren Blutflusses bei symptomatischen Patienten im Vordergrund. Bei Vorliegen eines DFS sind die Infektbekämpfung, Druckentlastung und Revaskularisation Hauptsäulen der Therapie. Die Nachsorge umfasst die Stoffwechselkontrolle, die regelmäßige Durchblutungskontrolle sowie die protektive podologische Behandlung und stadiengerechte Schuhversorgung. Entscheidend ist die interdisziplinäre Betreuung von DFS-Patienten mit spezialisierter Versorgung in geteilter Verantwortung („shared care“).