Adapting a Patient-Reported Outcome Measure to Digital Outpatient Specialist Health Care Services for Type 1 Diabetes: User Involvement Study

Investigating Digital Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Patient-Centered Diabetes Specialist Outpatient Care (DigiDiaS): Protocol for a Multimethod Prospective Observational Study

BACKGROUND

Living with type 1 diabetes is challenging, and to support self-management, repeated consultations in specialist outpatient care are often required. The emergence of new digital solutions has revolutionized how health care services can be patient centered, providing unprecedented opportunities for flexible, high-quality care. However, there is a lack of studies exploring how the use of digital patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for flexible specialist care affects diabetes self-management. To provide new knowledge on the relevance of using PROMs in standard care, we have designed a multimethod prospective study.

OBJECTIVE

The overall aim of this protocol is to describe our prospective multimethod observational study designed to investigate digital PROMs in a routine specialist outpatient setting for flexible patient-centered diabetes care (DigiDiaS).

METHODS

This protocol outlines the design of a multimethod prospective observational cohort study that includes data from electronic health records, self-reported questionnaires, clinical consultation field observations, and individual in-depth interviews with patients and diabetes health care personnel. All patients with type 1 diabetes at a designated outpatient clinic were invited to participate and use the digital PROM implemented in clinical care. Both users and nonusers of the digital PROM were eligible for the prospective study, allowing for a comparison of the two groups. Data were collected at baseline and after 12 months, including self-management as the primary outcome assessed using the Patient Activation Measure, along with the secondary outcomes of digital health literacy, quality of life, health economy, and clinical variables such as glycated hemoglobin.

RESULTS

The digital solution was implemented for routine clinical care in the department in November 2021, and data collection for the prospective study started in October 2022. As of September 6, 2023, 84.6% (186/220) of patients among those in the digital PROM and 15.5% (34/220) of patients among the nonusers have consented to participate. We expect the study to have enough participants by the autumn of 2023. With 1 year of follow-up, the results are expected by spring 2025.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, a multimethod prospective observational cohort study can offer valuable insights into the relevance, effectiveness, and acceptability of digital tools using PROMs in diabetes specialist care. Such knowledge is crucial for achieving broad and successful implementation and use of these tools in a large diabetes outpatient clinic.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/52766.

Patient-reported outcome measures in diabetes outpatient care: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures are increasingly used in clinical diabetes care to increase patient involvement and improve healthcare services. The objectives were to identify instruments used to measure PROs in outpatient diabetes clinics and to investigate the use of these PRO measures alongside the experiences of patients and healthcare personnel in a clinical setting.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A scoping review was conducted according to the framework of Arksey and O'Malley with scoping searches of Cinahl, EMBASE, Medline and Health and Psychosocial Instruments. Studies reporting on adults with diabetes in a clinical setting where the PRO measure response directly affected patient care were eligible for inclusion.

RESULTS

In total, 35 197 citations were identified, of which 7 reports presenting 4 different PRO measures were included in the review. All four of the included items measured psychosocial aspects of diabetes, and three included elements of the Problem Areas in Diabetes scale. All the patients were satisfied with the use of PRO measures in clinical care, whereas the level of satisfaction among healthcare personnel with PRO measures varied within and among studies.

CONCLUSIONS

The limited number of eligible studies in this review suggests that research on PRO measures for diabetes outpatient care is scarce. Patients welcome the opportunity to express their concerns through the systematic collection of PRO measures, and some healthcare personnel value the broader insight that PRO measures provide into the impact of diabetes on patients' lives. However, the heterogeneity among services and among patients challenges the implementation of PRO measures. Research is needed to explore how PRO measures in clinical outpatient care affect healthcare personnel workflow.

REVIEW REGISTRATION

https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/46AHC.

Flexible patient-reported outcome-based telehealth follow-up for type 1 diabetes: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Successful diabetes management requires collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals and should be aligned with an individual's condition and resources. We developed a flexible, individualised, patient-reported outcome (PRO)-based telehealth intervention called "DiabetesFlex Care" in which patients completed an annual self-reported questionnaire from home, one required face-to-face appointment, and two optional outpatient consultations. In this study, we investigated patients' experiences using DiabetesFlex Care.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative, interpretive descriptive (ID) study based on semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 36 patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) who had used DiabetesFlex Care. Recorded audio data were transcribed and analysed inductively using the constant comparative method.

RESULTS

DiabetesFlex Care changed participants' perspectives on living with diabetes. Patients became more involved in their own care and found that DiabetesFlex Care helped to make their conversations with healthcare professionals more relevant. Furthermore, participants appreciated the ability to both choose the format of their appointments (face-to-face vs. phone call) and cancel unnecessary appointments.

CONCLUSION

DiabetesFlex Care was a flexible and inclusive health service that enabled patients to take more responsibility for their own diabetes management. The questionnaire-based approach in DiabetesFlex Care can help healthcare professionals systematically account for patients' perspectives and support user involvement and self-management. By extension, this approach can also help minimise healthcare-related disruptions in patients' lives. Further studies are needed to determine whether flexible PRO-based telehealth is an acceptable solution for all patients.