Increased number of structured diabetes education attendance was not associated with the improvement in patient-reported health-related quality of life: results from Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP)

AIMS: To assess the effect of a structured education intervention, Patient Empowerment Programme (PEP) patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients, and if positive effect is confirmed, to further explore any association between frequency of sessions attendance and HRQOL. METHODS: A total of 298 T2DM patients were recruited when they attended the first session of PEP, between March and September 2010, and were followed over a one-year period from baseline. HRQOL data were assessed using Short Form-12 Health Survey version 2 (SF-12) and Short Form-6 Dimension (SF-6D) at baseline and one-year follow-up. Individuals’ anthropometric and biomedical data were extracted from an administrative database in Hong Kong. Unadjusted and adjusted analyses of linear regression models were performed to examine the impact of PEP session attendance on the change in the HRQOL scores, accounting for the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline. RESULTS: Of the 298 eligible patients, 257 (86.2 %) participated in the baseline assessment and 179 (60.1 %) patients completed the follow-up assessment, respectively. Overall, PEP resulted in a significant improvement in SF-12 bodily pain and role emotional subscales and SF-6D utility scores. These positive changes were not associated with the level of participation as shown in both unadjusted and adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The PEP made significant improvement in bodily pain, role emotional and overall aspects of HRQOL. Higher number of session attendance was not associated with improvement in HRQOL in primary care real-world setting. Key Messages ● Participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus who participated in structured diabetes education programme made significant improvement in bodily pain and role emotional subscales and SF-6D scores. ● There was no association between the number of sessions attended and any aspect of HRQOL.