Quality indicators for diabetes prevention programs in health care targeted at people at high risk

Abstract

Objective: Type 2 diabetes can be efficiently prevented by lifestyle intervention provided for people at high diabetes risk. The aim of this paper was to conduct a literature search on existing quality indicators for type 2 diabetes prevention and to collate and present a set of indicators that could be applied in European countries with different health care systems and cultures.

Methods: Scientific and grey literature was searched for relevant studies using electronic databases. We also hand searched previous systematic reviews and reference lists of relevant articles.

Results: The only publication identified was the report presenting the results from the IMAGE project. The IMAGE indicators were used as the basis for the proposed indicators.

Conclusions: Publications on quality indicators of diabetes prevention programmes are scarce. The quality indicators presented here are a first step toward the definition of a core set of European indicators to monitor and improve the quality of diabetes prevention.