Impact of the «Conversation Map™» tools on understanding of diabetes by Spanish patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized, comparative study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM

This paper presents results from the Spanish subpopulation of a study comparing Conversation Maps™ (CM)-based education with regular care (RC) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Adult patients with T2DM who were considered as not demonstrating ideal disease management were randomly assigned to CM or RC with assessments following (Visit 2), and at follow-up 6 months after (Visit 3), the final CM session. The primary endpoint was diabetes knowledge at Visit 3.

RESULTS

310 patients were randomised to receive CM education (n=148) or RC (n=162). Median knowledge scores were ranked significantly higher in the CM group than the RC group at Visit 2 and Visit 3 (p<0.001). No significant differences in clinical and other outcomes were identified between the interventions, except satisfaction with care (p<0.001, Visit 2; p=0.055, Visit 3) and perception of goal attainment (p<0.001 and p = 0.046, respectively) that were both higher in the CM group.

CONCLUSIONS

In these patients from Spain, CM was superior to RC in terms of diabetes knowledge 6 months after education was completed, suggesting that CM should be considered for use in patients requiring diabetes education.