The Diabetes Telemonitoring Study Extension: an exploratory randomized comparison of alternative interventions to maintain glycemic control after withdrawal of diabetes home telemonitoring

Background Telemonitoring interventions featuring transmission of home glucose records to healthcare providers have resulted in improved glycemic control in patients with diabetes. No research has addressed the intensity or duration of telemonitoring required to sustain such improvements. Purpose The DiaTel study (10 January 2005 to 1 November 2007) compared active care management (ACM) with home telemonitoring (n=73) to monthly care coordination (CC) telephone calls (n=77) among veterans with diabetes and suboptimal glycemic control. The purpose of the Dia Tel Extension was to assess whether initial improvements could be sustained with interventions of the same or lower intensity among participants who re-enrolled in a 6-month extension of DiaTel. Methods Dia Tel participants receiving ACM were re-assigned randomly to monthly CC calls with continued telemonitoring but no active medication management (ACM-to-CCHT, n=23) or monthly CC telephone calls (ACM-to-CC, n=21). Dia Tel participants receiving CC were re-assigned randomly to continued CC (CC-to-CC, n=28) or usual care (UC, ie, CC-to-UC, n=29). Hemaglobin A1c (HbA1c) was assessed at 3 and 6 months following re-randomization. Results Marked HbA1c improvements observed in DiaTel ACM participants were sustained 6 months after re-randomization in both ACM-to-CCHT and ACM-to-CC groups. Lesser HbA1c improvements observed in DiaTel CC participants were sustained in both CC-to-CC and CC-to-UC groups. No benefit was apparent for continued transmission of glucose data among DiaTel ACM participants or continued monthly telephone calls among DiaTel CC participants 6 months after re-randomization. Conclusion Significant improvements in HbA1c achieved using home telemonitoring and active medication management for 6 months were sustained 6 months later with interventions of decreased intensity in VA Health System-qualified veterans.