THURSDAY, April 20, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Nurse-led interventions including education and cognitive behavioral therapy can improve hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) control, according to a study published online April 11 in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice.
Lisa C. Whitehead, Ph.D., from the Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Australia, and colleagues randomized adults with a confirmed diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and HbA1c outside of the recommended range (4 to 7 percent) for 12 months or more to a nurse-led education intervention (34 patients), a nurse-led education intervention plus acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; 39 patients), or usual care (45 patients).
The researchers found that there was a statistically significant reduction in HbA1c in the education intervention group. At six months, HbA1c increased in the control group but was reduced in both intervention groups. In the intervention groups, twice as many participants demonstrated an improvement versus the control group (56 percent of the education group, 51 percent of the education plus ACT group, and 24 percent of the control group).
"At six months post intervention, HbA1c was reduced in both intervention groups with a greater reduction noted in the nurse-led education intervention," the authors write.
Abstract
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