Clinical trial on diabetes with about 3,000 patients from the Canary Islands

The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Canary Health Service and the Canarian Foundation for Research and Health (Funcis), has launched a clinical trial on diabetes in which 3,000 patients from the islands participate.

The objective of research is to improve care quality and contribute to the improvement of health results and reduce complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, reports the counseling in a note.

It is a random clinical trial carried out in the Primary Care Health Centers of the Health Areas of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and La Palma, whose fundamental purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two multicomponent interventions (educational educationaland behavior modification), independently and jointly, for family care units (UAF) and for patients with their families to improve health results in population affected by type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2).

The project, called 'indicates', was designed two years ago and 60 collaborators of the four research units of the public hospital centers of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, associations of patients, family and specialists from different fields of knowledge as researchersClinicians, nutrition experts, sports and physical exercise, clinical psychologists, nephrology and ophthalmology, as well as professionals related to communication technologies and the two universities of the archipelago.

Researchers have had experts from different disciplines related to the treatment of diabetes mellitus 2, being a complex pathology that affects different organs in their evolution.

It also also has the participation of 250 health professionals, among doctors and nurses, who also participate in the recruitment of patients started eight months ago in the largest population.It also receives advice from researchers from the Carlos III Institute and the University of Oxford.

Telemedicine

Another novelty of this research, which is the most complex carried out in the Canarian health service for the volume of participants and indicators to study, is the use of telemedicine through new information and communication technologies (ICT).

They are used to monitor patients via ICT, that is, to give continuous support and help the best self -control by the patient, underlines the Ministry.

To do this, both data entry by the patient on the web and SMS sending to the patient of reminder and reinforcement during their education program and modification of behavior are used.

In addition, a computerized system for decision -making, to support the actions of health professionals in the participating health centers, has also been developed.

This computerized system consists of a computer program incorporated into the electronic medical history of the patient that will automatically issue recommendations based on the best scientific knowledge available to guide and homogenize clinical decisions in patient follow -up.

The clinical trial will also act on patients and relatives in theoretical-practical sessions through workshops in which they will be advised on useful concepts to handle their pathology, recommendations on consumption, food preparation and even how to serve rations;Information on foot care or glycemia.

This information will be complemented with reinforcements by mobile messaging through which the researcher supports and solves doubts of the patient.TheSessions are recorded and exposed on the web so that the patient has them available when he needs to consult them and with the intention that in the future they will serve for every diabetic patient interested in receiving an online course on the pathology.

The 'SMS' are sent to the patient to motivate him to achieve those objectives that he has not achieved and reinforce those in which he is going well, depending on the information offered by the weekly questionnaires that the patient fulfills, always respecting the right to decide from thewell -informed patient.

The educator never sends 'SMS' solving doubts to the patient because it remains a function of his doctor and nurse from the health center.

The use of technology is equally at the service of primary care professionals, who participate in update workshops in communication techniques with the aim of modifying and improving inappropriate behaviors of patients for the management of diabetes and, at the same timeThey have a technological support for decision making that links to the patient's electronic medical history and that allows the automatic exploitation of the results.

The Canarian health service develops this research because in the Canary Islands, diabetes is a priority public health problem.

Obesity and sedentary lifestyle

The research policy defined in the Canary Islands from the needs detected by the Health Plan has allowed to know, progressively, the incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) on the islands with respect to the Spanish and European territory, and its relationship with factorsof risk of high prevalence in the Canary Islands such as obesity and sedentary lifestyle;the precocity of your debut;the high incidence of complications;and its repercussions on the quality of life, economic aspects and mortality.

The evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these interventions to support the decisions of patients and health professionals will allow the Ministry to make an informed decision about the convenience of implementing or not, depending on the results obtained, these programsIn all its health centers.

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