Long term effect of a structured inpatient diabetes teaching and treatment programme in type 2 diabetic patients: influence of mode of follow-up

Abstract Structured diabetes teaching and treatment programmes (STTP) are increasingly offered for patients with diabetes to improve metabolic control. We prospectively studied the long term-effect of STTP on metabolic control and knowledge of diabetes in patients with type 2 diabetes. In addition, differences in the mode of follow-up by a university diabetes centre (UDC) versus general practitioner (GP) were assessed. Of the 64 patients with type 2 diabetes (61±10 years old, diabetes duration 11±7 years) included in the study 52 could be reevaluated after 2 years. Of those, 31 were followed up by the UDC and 21 by their GPs who received detailed follow-up instructions from the UDC. In all patients, HbA1c decreased from 9.1±0.3% before the programme to 8.3±0.3% 2 years after the programme ( P =0.004), whereas body mass index increased from 28.8±0.8 to 30.3±0.9 kg/m 2 ( P