Protocol for the Digital, Individualized, and Collaborative Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in General Practice Based on...

Area of Science:

• Primary care research
• Digital health interventions
• Diabetes management

Background:

• Many individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) do not receive optimal care.
• Digital interventions show promise for lifestyle support but lack general practice integration.
• Lack of general practice support may hinder digital intervention adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of the DICTA intervention for T2D management in primary care.
• To assess a digital approach combining patient-centered lifestyle coaching and clinical decision support (CDS).
• To investigate the impact of integrating a smartphone app and CDS tool for general practitioners (GPs).

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 400 individuals with T2D across ~70 Danish GP clinics.
• Cluster randomization of GP clinics into intervention (eHealth coaching + CDS) and control (usual care) groups.
• Intervention group received 1 year of individualized eHealth lifestyle coaching and CDS tool access.

Main Results:

• The primary outcome is the one-year change in estimated ten-year cardiovascular risk (SCORE2-Diabetes).
• Cardiovascular risk is calculated using multiple clinical and patient-reported factors.
• Further analysis will determine the intervention's impact on cardiovascular risk reduction.

Conclusions:

• The DICTA intervention may offer a scalable, digital-first strategy for enhancing T2D management in primary care.
• Combining patient-centered lifestyle coaching with real-time clinical decision support shows potential.
• This approach could improve treatment optimization and patient outcomes in T2D care.