The effect of feedback to general practitioners on quality of care for people with type 2 diabetes. A systematic review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
There have been numerous efforts to improve and assure the quality of treatment and follow-up of people with Type 2 diabetes (PT2D) in general practice. Facilitated by the increasing usability and validity of guidelines, indicators and databases, feedback on diabetes care is a promising tool in this aspect. Our goal was to assess the effect of feedback to general practitioners (GPs) on the quality of care for PT2D based on the available literature.


METHODS
Systematic review searches were conducted using October 2008 updates of Medline (Pubmed), Cochrane library and Embase databases. Additional searches in reference lists and related articles were conducted. Papers were included if published in English, performed as randomized controlled trials, studying diabetes, having general practice as setting and using feedback to GPs on diabetes care. The papers were assessed according to predefined criteria.


RESULTS
Ten studies complied with the inclusion criteria. Feedback improved the care for PT2D, particularly process outcomes such as foot exams, eye exams and Hba1c measurements. Clinical outcomes like lowering of blood pressure, Hba1c and cholesterol levels were seen in few studies. Many process and outcome measures did not improve, while none deteriorated. Meta analysis was unfeasible due to heterogeneity of the studies included. Two studies used electronic feedback.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on this review, feedback seems a promising tool for quality improvement in diabetes care, but more research is needed, especially of electronic feedback.
Department of General Practice, Institute of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark. Trine.guldberg@alm.au.dk
Trine Lignell
TL
Guldberg
Torsten
T
Lauritzen
Jette Kolding
JK
Kristensen
Peter
P
Vedsted
D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000628:therapy*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome