[Evaluation of ambulatory teaching for diabetics in a semi-rural region]

An outpatient educational system for diabetics has been employed in Delémont since 1984 in the form of a 4-day course consisting of a total of 15 teaching hours. This teaching method has been evaluated in the first 51 patients. The level of information (tested by a series of multiple choice questions which are submitted to the patients at the beginning, at the end of the course and three months later) was found to improve. The score (0-17) rose from 6.6 to 11.9 and then 12.5; n = 35; p less than 0.001. The HbA1c fell significantly in a three month period from 8.8 to 7.8%, n = 12, p less than 0.02. The slight lowering of average fasting serum glucose levels (from 10.4 to 9.7 mmol/l) and of the patients' weights (from 75.4 to 74.6 kgs) was not significant. - The advantage of the educational system that has been studied is its low cost and the fact that it is accepted well by patients.