Implementation of a Personalized Care Plan for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Is Associated With Improvements in Clinical Outcomes: An Observational Real-World Study.

Abstract

<b>Objective:</b> To analyze the clinical outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) before and after implementation of a personalized care plan in the primary health care setting. <b>Design:</b> Observational, retrospective, real-world study. <b>Setting:</b> All T2D patients with a care plan in Rovaniemi Health Center, Rovaniemi, Finland, for whom data were available from a baseline visit (in 2013-2015 during which the care plan was written) and from a follow-up visit, including an updated care plan by the year 2017. <b>Subjects:</b> In total, 447 patients were included. Mean age was 66.9 (SD 10.1) years, 58.8% were male, 15.4% were smokers, 33.1% had vascular disease, and 17.0% were receiving insulin treatment. The mean follow-up time was 14.4 months. <b>Main Outcome Measures:</b> Glycosylated hemoglobin A1 (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), blood pressure (BP), and body mass index (BMI). Clinical values were taken at both baseline and follow-up. <b>Results:</b> LDL decreased by 0.2 mmol/L, systolic blood pressure by 2.2 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure by 1.5 mm Hg, and BMI by 0.5 kg/m² (<i>P</i> < .05 for each). The decrease in HbA1c was 0.8 mmol/mol (<i>P</i> = .07). <b>Conclusion:</b> We observed statistically significant decreases in LDL, BP, and BMI. Our results indicate that, over 14 months of follow-up, implementation of a written care plan was associated with small improvements in the clinical outcomes of T2D patients in a primary health care study population in a real-world setting.