The purpose of the I-START study is to evaluate an educational phone application (app) designed to support patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by reinforcing the necessary skills needed for insulin administration as part of diabetes self-management.
Despite advances in technology and delivery systems, patients with T2DM continue to be reluctant to begin and adhere to insulin therapy for a variety of reasons. Introducing insulin therapy is particularly problematic during a hospitalization or a brief routine outpatient visit given time and resource constraints. Teaching people to administer an insulin injection requires time and ongoing support. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate an educational phone application designed to support patients with T2DM by reinforcing skills and self-management behaviors needed for insulin administration. Patients with T2DM who are starting insulin or need updated instruction on insulin will be invited to participate in this study to examine the effect of the phone app on psychological barriers to insulin as well as patient and provider satisfaction with and usability of the phone app in both outpatient and hospital settings.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
41
Designed as a supplementary educational tool for patients on insulin therapy, I-START includes an injection plan to reinforce the knowledge and behaviors that users have been taught by their health care provider. This is done through eight modules created for the benefit of new and experienced insulin users, and those using pens or vial/syringes. The modules address a variety of topics pertinent to insulin therapy, including overcoming psychosocial barriers, injection techniques and best practices, managing hypo- and hyperglycemic events, monitoring blood glucose and troubleshooting and problem solving. At the end of each module, users can self-evaluate their confidence in mastering the information presented. This gives them the ability to move forward into the next module, repeat material already presented and/or save features of the modules that they would like to revisit at another time.
Standard best practices for training patients to administer insulin therapy include 1) a thorough patient assessment prior to therapy initiation to address barriers, including evaluation for diminished cognitive capacity or other problem that may impair safe insulin self-administration, and assessment of health literacy and numeracy skills; 2) observation of a patient's injection practice, with re-education provided as needed; 3) use of appropriate language is necessary when teaching injection technique; 4) dose preparation, which includes inspecting the insulin dose for accuracy (following manufacturer instructions); and 5) review of signs, symptoms and treatment of hypoglycemia must be included as a critical component of the training.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Change from baseline in psychological insulin resistance at 2 weeks
Psychological insulin resistance will be assessed using the Barriers to Insulin Treatment Questionnaire (BIT), a short instrument that is easy to administer and may be used by both clinicians and researchers (Petrak et al, 2007). The BIT Questionnaire includes 14 items, a total sum score, and the following five subscales: fear of injection and self-testing, expectations regarding positive insulin related outcomes, expected hardship from insulin treatment, stigmatization by insulin injection, and fear of hypoglycemia. Each item is scored on a scale from 1 to 10, which are summed and averaged for total scores; the higher the score, the greater the level of concern.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change from baseline in psychological insulin resistance at 3 months
Psychological insulin resistance will be assessed using the Barriers to Insulin Treatment Questionnaire (BIT), a short instrument that is easy to administer and may be used by both clinicians and researchers (Petrak et al, 2007). The BIT Questionnaire includes 14 items, a total sum score, and the following five subscales: fear of injection and self-testing, expectations regarding positive insulin related outcomes, expected hardship from insulin treatment, stigmatization by insulin injection, and fear of hypoglycemia. Each item is scored on a scale from 1 to 10, which are summed and averaged for total scores; the higher the score, the greater the level of concern.
Time frame: 3 months
Change from baseline in psychological insulin resistance at 6 months
Psychological insulin resistance will be assessed using the Barriers to Insulin Treatment Questionnaire (BIT), a short instrument that is easy to administer and may be used by both clinicians and researchers (Petrak et al, 2007). The BIT Questionnaire includes 14 items, a total sum score, and the following five subscales: fear of injection and self-testing, expectations regarding positive insulin related outcomes, expected hardship from insulin treatment, stigmatization by insulin injection, and fear of hypoglycemia. Each item is scored on a scale from 1 to 10, which are summed and averaged for total scores; the higher the score, the greater the level of concern.
Time frame: 6 months
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Change from baseline in glycemic control at 3 months
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) will serve as a clinical indicator of glycemic control. HbA1c will serve as the clinical study outcome and measure of glycemic control. HbA1c values will be obtained from the electronic medical record (EMR) system.
Time frame: 3 months
Change from baseline in glycemic control at 6 months
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) will serve as a clinical indicator of glycemic control. HbA1c will serve as the clinical study outcome and measure of glycemic control. HbA1c values will be obtained from the electronic medical record (EMR) system.
Time frame: 6 months
Change from baseline in medication adherence at 3 months
Medication adherence will be assessed with the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). The scales includes 8 items. Scores can range from 0 to 8; the higher the score, the more adherent the respondent is considered.
Time frame: 3 months
Change from baseline in medication adherence at 6 months
Medication adherence will be assessed with the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Scores can range from 0 to 8; the higher the score, the more adherent the respondent is considered.
Time frame: 6 months
Change from baseline in diabetes empowerment at 3 months
Empowerment will be measured using the 8-item Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), which measures an individual's perceived ability to manage psychosocial aspects of diabetes, assess dissatisfaction and readiness to change self-management plans and set and achieve diabetes goals (Anderson et al, 2000; Anderson et al, 2003). Possible scores are 1 to 5 for each item, summed for a possible total score of 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater empowerment.
Time frame: 3 months
Change from baseline in diabetes empowerment at 6 months
Empowerment will be measured using the 8-item Diabetes Empowerment Scale-Short Form (DES-SF), which measures an individual's perceived ability to manage psychosocial aspects of diabetes, assess dissatisfaction and readiness to change self-management plans and set and achieve diabetes goals (Anderson et al, 2000; Anderson et al, 2003). Possible scores are 1 to 5 for each item, summed for a possible total score of 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate greater empowerment.
Time frame: 6 months
Change from baseline in diabetes distress at 3 months
Diabetes distress will be evaluated with the 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS17), which assesses four dimensions of distress - emotional, regimen, interpersonal and physician (Polonsky et al, 2005), and has shown a consistent pattern of relationships with HbA1c, diabetes self-efficacy, diet and physical activity in multiple samples of patients with T2DM (Fisher et al, 2012). Individual items are scored from 1 to 6; total scores are the average of all individual item scores; higher scores indicate greater distress.
Time frame: 3 months
Change from baseline in diabetes distress at 6 months
Diabetes distress will be evaluated with the 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS17), which assesses four dimensions of distress - emotional, regimen, interpersonal and physician (Polonsky et al, 2005), and has shown a consistent pattern of relationships with HbA1c, diabetes self-efficacy, diet and physical activity in multiple samples of patients with T2DM (Fisher et al, 2012). Individual items are scored from 1 to 6; total scores are the average of all individual item scores; higher scores indicate greater distress.
Time frame: 6 months
Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction will be assessed using the validated Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire-Short Form (DMSRQ-SF) (Peyrot et al, 2014). Items are scored 0 to 100; higher scores equal greater levels of item/construct being measured.
Time frame: 6 months
Provider Satisfaction
Clinician experiences and perspectives on satisfaction of the app will be assessed through a study specific satisfaction survey
Time frame: 6 months