Remote monitoring a boon to underserved diabetes patients

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is beneficial in the management of diabetes, improving glucose control especially in rural and underserved populations, as shown in a study. Moreover, the improvements are sustained for up to 12 months.

The study looked at underserved patients enrolled in a statewide RPM programme for diabetes and determined if they achieved sustained improvements in haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) at 6 and 12 months and whether those improvements were modified by demographic and clinical variables.

HbA1c data were available for 302 participants at 6 months and 125 participants at 12 months. Relative to baseline, HbA1c values dropped by 1.8 percent (19 mmol/mol) at 6 months (p<0.01) and by 1.3 percent (14 mmol/mol) at 12 months (p<0.01).

HbA1c values at 12 months were consistently lower than baseline across clinical settings. In a multivariable regression model, change in HbA1c showed no statistically significant associations with patient age, sex, race, household income, insurance, or clinic type.

The findings show that RPM improves control over 1 year and that neither clinic type nor sociodemographic variables significantly influences the likelihood that patients would benefit from the intervention.

As such, RPM is a promising approach for delivering care to underserved populations.