Follow-up phone calls may boost glycemic control in T2DM

(HealthDay)—For patients with type 2 diabetes, follow-up phone calls after a monthly clinic visit could lead to clinically significant change in hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) levels, according to a study published online Nov. 13 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Cheryl Brown-Deacon, D.N.P., from the University of Michigan-Flint, and colleagues conducted a quality improvement study to examine the effectiveness of follow-up phone calls in improving frequency of glucose monitoring over a three-month period in patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 41 patients with type 2 diabetes with HbA1c ≥7.5 percent were included in the study. Over a three-month period, patients were assigned to receive standard care (Group 1) or to receive standard care plus follow-up phone calls within two weeks after a monthly clinic visit (Group 2).

The researchers observed no statistically significant between-group differences in the baseline HbA1c or the three-month HbA1c. The mean HbA1c change did not differ significantly between Groups 1 and 2. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the number of patients who kept logs of their blood glucose readings.

"The intervention using telephone follow-up calls did not show a statistically significant improvement in overall HbA1c, but there was a clinically significant change in HbA1c in the group of patients that received follow-up phone calls," the authors write.