[Introduction of capillary glycosylated haemoglobin determination in a Primary Care Health Area: Multicentre study of the evolution of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of a joint intervention that included educational components, self-assessment, and information to optimise diabetes control through the introduction of instant capillary glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) determination in Primary Care.


METHODS
A multicentre prospective descriptive study was carried out over 3years in 10Primary Care Centres of the Area VII Murcia East. At the end of the study there were 804 patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2). Patients were divided into 4 groups based on initial values of HbA1c, and if changes in their treatment were needed. HbA1c, body mass index, and blood pressure were monitored. A financial assessment was also performed on the impact of the implementation of a protocol to measure instant capillary RESULTS: A significant reduction was observed in HbA1c values. The initial HbA1c mean value was 7.4±1.4%, which decreased to a final value of 6.9±1.0% (P<.001). At the end of the study, 71.4% of patients included reached diabetic control objectives. In addition, the financial assessment demonstrated that the implementation of this diabetes control system led to a decrease of the 24.7% in spending on glucose strips after the first year of study in Area VII Murcia Health Service.


CONCLUSIONS
The introduction of capillary HbA1c determination in Primary Care has demonstrated to improve diabetes control and the efficiency of the health personnel. Furthermore, a reduction in the health costs of patients with DM2 was also shown.
Unidad de Diabetes, Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía, Murcia, España. Electronic address: mangelesnunezsanchez@gmail.com.
M Á
MÁ
Núñez-Sánchez
Centro de Salud de Atención Primaria El Carmen, Murcia, España.
M Á
MÁ
Cervantes-Cuesta
Centro de Salud de Atención Primaria El Carmen, Murcia, España.
P
P
Brocal-Ibañez
Centro de Salud de Atención Primaria El Carmen, Murcia, España.
E
E
Salmeron-Arjona
Centro de Salud de Atención Primaria El Carmen, Murcia, España.
L P
LP
León-Martínez
Centro de Salud de Atención Primaria El Carmen, Murcia, España.
M
M
Cerezo-Sanmartin
D000368:Aged; D002196:Capillaries; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies
D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin
Atención Primaria; Diabetes de tipo 2; Glucose strips; Glycosylated haemoglobin; Hemoglobina glucosilada; Primary Care; Tiras de glucosa; Type 2 diabetes