Improvements in patient-reported outcomes associated with an intervention to enhance quality of care for rural patients with type 2 diabetes: results of a controlled trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine patient-reported outcomes in a controlled trial of a multifaceted provider-level intervention to improve quality of care for rural patients with type 2 diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a before/after intervention study with concurrent controls in two rural regions in Alberta, Canada. The intervention consisted of six monthly visits by a multidisciplinary health care team and was primarily directed at primary care providers. Clinical and patient-reported outcomes were assessed after 6 months. Patient-reported outcomes included changes in health-related quality of life (Health Utilities Index Mark 3 [HUI3]), satisfaction with care, lifestyle (Diabetes Lifestyle Form), and adherence to self-care activities. Analysis of covariance was used to assess differences over time between the control and intervention regions.

Results: A total of 200 intervention and 172 control subjects were included in this analysis. After adjusting for important clinical and demographic differences, a statistically significant and clinically important improvement in the overall HUI3 score was seen at the 6-month follow-up in the intervention region (0.06 [95% CI 0.02-0.10]) compared with the control region (0.01 [-0.04 to 0.04]) (P = 0.03 for the difference between groups). Satisfaction with general medical care (P < 0.001 between groups) and diabetes care (P < 0.001 between groups) increased among patients in the intervention region compared with the control region. Self-efficacy, attitudes, and beliefs about diabetes control all increased in the intervention region when compared with the control region, but adherence to self-care activities did not.

Conclusions: A provider-level intervention directed at improving quality of clinical care for patients with type 2 diabetes also had a favorable impact on overall health-related quality of life, satisfaction with care, and other humanistic outcomes.