The clinical effectiveness of telemedicine for managing type 2 diabetes in India: a meta-analysis of the impact of telemedicine with clinic visits.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Telemedicine has emerged as a promising solution for enhancing Type 2 diabetes management, which aims to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. Despite its potential benefits for diabetes management in India, knowledge of its clinical effectiveness is scarce. This meta-analysis examines the clinical effectiveness of telemedicine versus physical consultation in managing Type 2 diabetes in India.

Methods

The meta-analysis adhered to the PRISMA-P guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023400562). PubMed and EMBASE were searched for eligible studies from 1st January 2012 to 30th June 2022. Included were studies on Type 2 diabetes patients in India comparing telemedicine (Intervention) with physical consultation (conventional) regarding effect on HbA1c changes. Risk of bias for randomised studies of Intervention (RoB-2) was used for study quality assessment.

Results

We found four articles that met the eligibility criteria, all reporting quantitative HbA1c change. The telemedicine interventions included video consultation, health systemcomputer-generated telephonic messages and a Video-Based Lifestyle Education Programme. Upon pooling the results from these studies, an overall analysis indicated a non-statistically significant reduction in HbA1c levels following the intervention compared to conventional treatment (pooled difference in means = -0.03, 95% CI = -0.23 to 0.17, Z = 0.30 P = 0.76). Likewise, there was no statistically significant difference in secondary outcomes (Body Mass Index, body weight and lipid profile) between both treatment groups.

Conclusion

Enhancing telemedicine approaches may hold promise in improving type 2 diabetes management in India, although the existing evidence remains inconclusive. Further research involving long-term telemedicine interventions would help to provide more substantial evidence on the clinical effectiveness of telemedicine for Type 2 diabetes management in India.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-024-01471-x.

SUBMITTER: Nath A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11599547 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature