Table 2.
Cardiovascular clinical variables and number of medical visits and times of hospitalization at baseline and 6 months after the intervention.
| Variables | n | Preintervention | Mean difference (95% CI) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular data | ||||
| HbA1c level | 166 | 7.3 (1.1) | 0.1 (−0.1, 0.2) | 0.348 |
| HbA1c < 7%; n (%) | 72 (43) | 3 (−4, 9) | 0.465 | |
| BMI | 167 | 30.4 (5.3) | −0.1 (−0.3, 0.1) | 0.461 |
| Total cholesterol | 164 | 197.8 (37.9) | −3.2 (−7.6, 1.2) | 0.158 |
| REGICOR score | 145 | 7.2 (3.8) | −0.2 (−0.6, 0.3) | 0.466 |
| SBP | 166 | 137.1 (16.6) | −3.3 (−5.3, −1.2) | 0.002 |
| DBP | 166 | 79.2 (9.9) | −1.4 (−2.5, −0.2) | 0.024 |
| Good blood pressure control SBP < 140 & DBP < 90; n (%) | 166 | 88 (53) | 10 (3, 18) | 0.007 |
| Medication consumption | 171 | |||
| Antidiabetics; n (%) | 133 (78) | 1 (−2, 4) | 0.479 | |
| Antihypertensives; n (%) | 98 (57) | 0 (−4, 4) | 1.000 | |
| Antiplatelet drugs; n (%) | 56 (33) | 1 (−5, 2) | 0.527 | |
| Number of medications; median (Q1, Q3) |
3 (1, 4) | 0 (0, 0) | 0.763 | |
|
Number of medical visits;
median (Q1,Q3) |
165 | |||
| General practitioner | 3 (2, 5) | −1 (−1, 0) | 0.005 | |
| Primary care nurse | 4 (2, 5) | −1 (−1, −1) | <0.0001 | |
| Emergency department | 0 (0, 0) | 0 (0, 0) | 0.815 | |
| Hospital admissions | 0 (0, 0) | 0 (0, 0) | 0.278 |
Data are mean (standard deviation), unless otherwise stated. n (%) = frequency (percentage). The “n” column reports frequencies of available data at both time points. REGICOR estimates cardiovascular risk for patients between 35 and 74 years of age. Differences were calculated as postintervention minus preintervention values. CI: confidence interval. Q1, Q3: 25th and 75th percentiles. HbA1c: glycated haemoglobin. BMI: body mass index. SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure. Mean difference for categorical variables corresponds to differences in paired proportions and their respective 95% CI and for ordinal variables (i.e., total number of medications and medical visits) to median differences with their respective 95% CI. Reported p values are based on paired t-tests for continuous variables, McNemar's test for binary variables, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for ordinal variables. Medical visits were assessed for the intervals of 6 months before and after intervention. Only diabetes-related complications were considered for the emergency department visits and hospital admissions.