Outcomes and experience of telemedicine in the management of diabetes mellitus during COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Telemedicine has been promoted as an economical and effective way to enhance patient care, but the experience and its outcome in the diabetes management are not well understood. Thus, this study aims to assess the experiences and outcomes of diabetes management by tele-consultation. Methods: A comparative study included 958 patients with T2DM attending the clinics for diabetes management. Of them 467 (48.75%) patients consulted the endocrinologists through telemedicine and 491 (51.25%) patients attended the clinics physically during the study period. Results: The mean age was 58.5±4.3 years in telemedicine group and 55.8±5.1 years in the physically attending group. Male patients comprised about half [46.03% in telemedicine group; 51.32% in physically attending group)] of the study population and around half [55.46% in telemedicine, 44.54% in physically attending group] of them came from urban areas. The majority of patients were on MNT along with 2 or more OADs [42.18% versus 40.53%; p 0.90]. Among telemedicine users, 59.74% visited the clinic as regular follow up visits and the highest number of patients [49.67% (232)] used video calling, apps, WhatsApp. About 62.21% (291) of the telemedicine users did not face any difficulties in communication. Two-fifths of the participants (40.02%) required assistance for communication; 74.09% of the patients could understand the advices and instructions of the physicians and 76.45% found it cost effective and more than four-fifths of them admitted that telemedicine could save time. The majority of patients with T2DM (91.43%) were satisfied with telemedicine service. Conclusions: For most patients with T2DM, telemedicine can be as good, or even better than, in-person care, especially for those who face geographical and time barriers to access during COVID-19 pandemic and may be afterword. population.