Video Consultation vs Face to Face Consultation in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus

Background

With growing technology capabilities, and the COVID-19 pandemic putting pressure on health services to use remote consultation, the feasibility of using teleconsultation in regular management of chronic disease is to be considered. The popularity of teleconsultation is rising, and since the population of chronic disease sufferers in the UK is considerable, this method of consultation has, in recent years, started to be explored for various conditions. Diabetes affects 4 million people in the UK, and this review specifically focuses on the use of teleconsultation in diabetes management, in comparison to more traditional face to face consultation. If clinical outcomes are not compromised, the benefits of using a remote service could allow for the use of teleconsultation for diabetes management to be normal practice.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted to select published articles from web-based health databases. Data extraction and analysis of results followed.

Results

9 studies were selected. Primary outcomes HbA1c, LDL levels and blood pressure were shown to remain, overall uncompromised, by the use of teleconsultation in comparison to face to face consultation. Patient satisfaction was also high, with few limitations of remote consultation found. Economic and time saving proved to be major advantages for patients using teleconsultation for their diabetes management.

 Conclusions

This review identified a lack of literature on the use of teleconsultation in diabetes management, although the research reviewed did support teleconsultation use in diabetes. Future research should address the use of teleconsultation in diabetes care over a reasonable duration, with a reasonable sample size, through RCTs.