Outcomes of integrated management versus specialized care for patients with type 2 diabetes: An observational study

AIMS: To compare type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients included in a Diabetes Integrated Management (DIM) program with those followed in Diabetes Specialized Care (DSC), investigating differences in general characteristics, changes in clinical outcomes, and factors related with the inclusion in the DIM program. METHODS: T2D patients living in the ASLTO3 district and included into the DIM program, a shared disease management between general practitioners and diabetes specialists, from 2008 to 2014 were compared with T2D patients living in the same district and in charge of the local DSC. Demographic, anthropometric and clinical data for both groups of patients were obtained from the electronic records of DSC. RESULTS: 1326 DIM patients were compared with 3494 DSC patients. A higher proportion of females was observed among DIM patients than among DSC patients. DIM patients were older, more frequently in therapy with diet only or with oral hypoglycemic, and had HbA1c and creatinine lower than DSC patients. The analyses of changes in clinical parameters during the study period showed a good and statistically significant improvement of most parameters, independently of the inclusion in DIM or DSC, with the exception of creatinine level. CONCLUSIONS: Integrated Management is an efficient and effective way to achieve good long-term clinical outcomes for patients with diabetes.