Telemedicine for diabetes support in family doctors' practices: a pilot project

Abstract

A telemedicine support system for diabetes management was compared with standard monitoring of patients with diabetes. The telemedicine system was composed of two modules: a Patient Unit and a Medical Unit connected by the telecommunication network. The study involved 60 patients of family doctors' practices in the Lower Silesia Region who were diagnosed with diabetes. There was no significant difference in haemoglobin A(1c) between telemonitoring and the traditional group of diabetic patients during the survey. The patients' quality of life slightly improved in the telemonitoring (mean score 3.4) and the traditionally monitored group (mean score 3.2), but there was no significant difference between them. Most of the telemonitoring patients (75%) expressed the desire to continue with telemedicine support and nearly 60% of patients monitored with traditional methods wanted to be included in the telemedicine group. The system seems to be reliable, simple to use and friendly for the patients.