Mailing Recommendations to the Individual or Physician to Increase Screening for Type 2 Diabetes in Women With Previous Gestational Diabetes: Clinical Trial.
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Enrollment
- 268
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- The proportion of patients screened in each group
Study Overview
Brief Summary
In 1998, The Canadian Diabetes Association published guidelines that recommended women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM,) should be screened postpartum for Type 2 diabetes using a glucose tolerance test. We determined the rate of screening for Type 2 diabetes at the Ottawa Hospital before and after the publication of this guideline and found that none of the women in either period had been screened following this recommendation. We believe a reminder letter outlining the recommended screening test sent to the patient and/or her family physician would increase screening for Type 2 diabetes in women with previous GDM.
Detailed Description
In 1998, the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) published guidelines that recommended all women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) should be screened 6 weeks to 6 months postpartum for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) using a 2-hour 75g oral glucose tolerance test. We determined the rate of screening for type 2 DM at the Ottawa Hospital before and after the publication of this guideline and found that none of the women in either period had been screened following the CDA guideline recommendations although other screening tests that had not been recommended had increased in utilization. Since the publication of the CDA guidelines several studies have been published that demonstrate that identification of patients with an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test and early treatment prevents the onset of diabetes. This research and the recommendations need to be communicated to physicians.
Methods:
Overall Objectives:
- To test whether a reminder letter outlining the screening recommendations that is sent both to the patient and her family physician would increase screening postpartum for type 2 DM in women with previous GDM more than a letter sent only to the physician or the patient.
- To determine the patient and physician barriers that are impeding the adoption of this recommended screening strategy.
Setting:
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Factorial
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Sex
- Female
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- •All women, who are pregnant and attend the High Risk Pregnancy Unit and who have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes will be considered for inclusion in the study.
Exclusion Criteria
- •1. Patient does not have a Family Physician
- •Patient's Family Physician already has a patient enrolled in the study
- •Patient already enrolled in the study for a previous pregnancy
- •Unable to give informed consent in English or French
- •History of pre-gestational diabetes mellitus
- •Intra-uterine fetal death or still birth
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
The proportion of patients screened in each group
Secondary Outcomes
No secondary outcomes reported