Telephonic Intervention Improves Diabetes Control

Phone group fares better than print intervention group

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- A health educator-implemented telephonic intervention is more effective than a print intervention in helping low-income adults in an urban population control their diabetes, according to research published in the January issue of Diabetes Care.

Elizabeth A. Walker, Ph.D., R.N., of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y., and colleagues randomized 526 low-income, urban, minority individuals with an A1C of 7.5 percent or higher to telephonic intervention or print intervention to compare the effectiveness of the two approaches in improving diabetes control over one year in this patient population.

The researchers note that the telephone group experienced a mean decline in A1C of 0.23, while the print group experienced a rise of 0.13. Medication adherence among those not taking insulin was associated with the telephone intervention.

"A one-year tailored telephonic intervention implemented by health educators was successful in significantly, albeit modestly, improving diabetes control compared with a print intervention in a low-income, insured, minority population," the authors write.

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