Ein Telemedizinsystem für Schwangerschaftsdiabetes

A telemedicine system for gestational diabetes Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes which affects about 5%-10% of all pregnancies and poses risks to mother and child. Telemedicine systems use telecommunication technologies for medical purposes. A telemedicine system could reduce the time until the medical personnel receives blood sugar measurements from patients as well as the reaction time for adjustments to medical treatments. In this article the possibility of deploying a telemedicine system for gestational diabetes in clinical routine is studied. Existing treatment guidelines have been formalised and the user interaction has been tested using a prototype system. The formalised treatment guidelines were integrated into an expert system. Based on this work a telemedicine system has been created and tested in the scope of a parallel-group, open randomised controlled trial with 24 patients. A qualitative analysis of the study results has been performed. The telemedicine system worked correctly during the study duration. Study participants were satisfied with the provided care. The medical personnel considered telemedicine technology to be appropriate for the care of gestational diabetes patients. The reaction time for treatment adjustment was one to three days instead of one to two weeks.