Establishment of blood glucose monitoring system using the internet.
OBJECTIVE
The Internet is used worldwide as a communication tool. To improve the quality of diabetes control, we investigated the effectiveness of an Internet-based blood glucose monitoring system (IBGMS) on controlling the changes in HbA(1c) levels.


METHODS
We conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 110 patients who visited the outpatient clinic at the Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital for 3 months. The study subjects were treated with IBGMS for 12 weeks, and the control group received the usual outpatient management over the same period. HbA(1c) and other laboratory tests were performed twice, once at the beginning of the study and again at the end of the study.


RESULTS
The test results from the beginning of the study established that there were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to age, sex, diabetes duration, BMI, blood pressure, HbA(1c), and other laboratory data. On follow-up examination 12 weeks later, HbA(1c) levels were significantly decreased from 7.59 to 6.94% within the intervention group (P < 0.001). At the end of the study, HbA(1c) levels in the intervention group were significantly lower than in the control group after adjusting the baseline HbA(1c) (6.94 vs. 7.62%; P < 0.001, respectively). Among patients with baseline HbA(1c) <7.0%, the patients in the intervention group had lower HbA(1c) than those in the control group (6.38 vs. 6.99%; P < 0.05). Among the patients with a baseline HbA(1c) > or = 7.0%, the difference between the two groups appeared more obvious: HbA(1c) levels at the end of the study were 8.12%.


CONCLUSIONS
This new IBGMS resulted in a significant reduction of HbA(1c) during the study period. We propose that this IBGMS be used as a method for improving diabetes control.
Kwon
Hyuk-Sang
HS
Department of Internal Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
Cho
Jae-Hyoung
JH
Kim
Hee-Soo
HS
Song
Bok-Re
BR
Ko
Seung-Hyun
SH
Lee
Jung-Min
JM
Kim
Sung-Rae
SR
Chang
Sang-Ah
SA
Kim
Hee-Seung
HS
Cha
Bong-Yun
BY
Lee
Kwang-Woo
KW
Son
Ho-Young
HY
Lee
Jin-Hee
JH
Lee
Won-Chul
WC
Yoon
Kun-Ho
KH
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface
D001786:Blood Glucose