Objectives: The rapid increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has created an urgent need to develop new practices to prevent and treat it. One possibility is to provide specialists services to remote areas through videoconferencing (VC). Therefore, the aim was to study the feasibility of short-term group counselling by a clinical nutritionist (4 sessions at 1.5-hour each at 2-week intervals from baseline, and the session 5 at 6 months) performed by videoconferencing (VC).
Study design: We recruited 74 subjects at high risk of T2D, and compiled 5 VC groups (each group included 5-9 subjects, total n=33) and 6 face-to-face groups (FF, total n=44). The subjects were also asked to participate in a follow-up visit 15 months after the last counselling session.
Methods: Data were collected by a questionnaire (satisfaction with group counselling via videoconferencing), by theme interviews (experiences on group counselling) and by metabolic measures (laboratory tests).
Results: Only one of the 74 subjects dropped out during the first 6 months. The proportion of subjects who had received social support from group peers was higher in the videoconferencing group than in the face-to-face groups (p=0.001). The experiences of group counselling transmitted by videoconferencing were positive. Waist circumference decreased significantly at 0 to 6 months of counselling (p<0.01), and was significantly lower at 21 months than at baseline in FF groups (p=0.015). However, no significant differences were observed in most of the measurements between VC and face-to-face groups.
Conclusions: Short-term group counselling by a clinical nutritionist through videoconferencing is a feasible way and a practical model to provide specialists services to remote areas, and thus can be used as an option to diminish inequality related to restricted health care services in sparsely inhabited areas.