Prise en charge par téléconsultation des patients diabétiques dans le contexte de la pandémie de la COVID-19 : étude prospective observationnelle

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the French government to impose confinement measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. These measures may have had a potential impact on the glycemic control of diabetic patients. Within this context, telemedicine appears to be a viable option for follow-up appointments of diabetic patients. To assess this theory, we simultaneously led a prospective observational study during the novel coronavirus pandemic at Strasbourg's teaching hospital and at a private medical office to evaluate glycemic control in 491 diabetic patients either attending a telehealth appointment (n = 338) or whom in-person consultation had been postponed by 6 months (n = 153). Surveys were collected to assess both the patients’ and the physicians’ satisfaction. A decrease in average glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) was observed among patients from the telehealth appointment group: ΔHbA(1c) = −0.33% (n = 175) as well as the other group: ΔHbA(1c) = −0.13% (n = 92) 3 months after the beginning of the study. Patients belonging to the telehealth appointment group at Strasbourg's teaching hospital (n = 97) experienced a decrease in their HbA(1c) average from 7.65 ± 1.19% to 7.18 ± 0.9%, while patients from the same group attending a private medical office (n = 78) also experienced a decrease from 7.28 ± 0.80% to 7.11 ± 0.79%. Ninety-two percent of patients were satisfied with the telehealth appointment, think it could be a virtual alternative to in-person consultation and would recommend it to other diabetic patients. Even though seven out of eight diabetologists had never offered telehealth appointments to their patients prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of them hope to provide such services to their patients once the health crisis is over. The tendency towards a decrease in HbA(1c) levels within our cohort should be qualified due to missing data caused by the disruption in data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluation and assessment of the cohort's glycemic control 6 months after the beginning of the study could help confirm these results.