Group patient education: effectiveness of a brief intervention in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus in primary health care in Greece: a clinically controlled trial

This study aims to assess the impact of a brief patient group education intervention in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The sample, 193 people with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were patients at the diabetic clinic of a primary health care setting in Attica, was assigned to two groups, intervention (138 individuals) and control group (55 individuals). The intervention group, instead of receiving standard care, attended a structured group educational programme using Conversation Maps while the control group had standard care. The main outcome measures were HbA1c, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), measured at baseline and 6 months after the intervention. After 6 months, significant differences in changes ofthestudiedparameterswereobservedbetween the groups in HbA1c, 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.7), (P