PATIENTS WITH type 2 diabetes do not have better clinical outcomes when offered structured support by others with the disease, researchers from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Trinity College Dublin have found.
In a study funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and just published online by the British Medical Journal, researchers report that while there was a trend towards improvement in the quality of care the peer-supported patients received, this did not translate into significant improvements in measurable outcomes such as blood sugar control.
Some 395 patients with diabetes were recruited by 20 general practices attached to the Trinity College Dublin (TCD) undergraduate training programme and were matched with 29 peer supporters who themselves had type 2 diabetes.
All practices introduced a standardised diabetes care system, while the peer support intervention ran over a two-year period and contained a number of elements: the recruitment and training of peer supporters; nine group meetings led by peer supporters in participant’s own general practice; and a retention plan for the peer supporters.
Peer support is the provision of support from an individual based on a sharing of similar life experiences.
It is often provided within a volunteering framework and can be delivered through group or individual support or through more remote formats such as the telephone or internet.
The study results show a trend towards improved management of clinical risk factors; however, peer support did not significantly improve physical and psychosocial outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes.
“While there was a trend towards improvements of clinical outcomes, particularly for systolic blood pressure, our results suggest that peer support should not be widely adopted in clinical practice until further research is carried out,” Dr Susan Smith, senior lecturer in primary care, and her co- authors concluded.