Impact of Webinars and Telemedicine during COVID-19 Lockdown in Transforming Outcomes in 848 T2D Patients in India

ABSTRACT

Telemedicine (TM) continues to play a critical role in ensuring continuity of care in diabetes patients during Covid-19. This study is based on Diabetes Tele Management System (DTMS®), a TM-based follow-up program consisting of decision support system aided by a multidisciplinary diabetes team since 1997 and its role during Covid-19. We retrospectively assessed the effectiveness of DTMS® and fortnightly delivered diabetes-specific Covid-19 webinars during lockdown period in our country. HbA1c of 848 consecutive T2D patients (age 55.68 ± 12.82 yrs, duration of T2D 13 ± 8 yrs) before and after lockdown were extracted from EMR and analyzed. Patients were also interviewed for their feedback using a structured questionnaire. Statistically significant reduction in HbA1c(baseline 7.81±1.76%, final 7.53±1.54%;t=5.601, p< 0.001*) was observed post lockdown. Among the patients who utilized telemedicine facility, 92.5% reported TM consultations during Covid-19 as a highly satisfactory experience (Figure 1). Since these patients were already familiar with the use of TM, no additional training was required other than reinforcing the necessity for maintaining treatment goals due to association of poor diabetes control with severity of Covid. SMS, audio video consults and counseling were found to be highly effective in those patients who were sensitized for a stricter control during COVID pandemic.