Cross-sectional study about the use of telemedicine for type 2 diabetes mellitus management in Spain: patient’s perspective. The EnREDa2 Study

ObjectivesThe usefulness of telemedicine (TM) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been discussed in recent years. The aim of this study is to describe patients’ perceptions about TM and to identify preferences on TM resources, in Spain.DesignAn observational, cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire.Participants1036 patients with T2DM accepted to participate in the study (response rate: 68%).ResultsBlood glucose values were recorded by 85.9% of the patients while data such as lifestyle habits were only recorded by 14.4% of the patients. Previous experience in TM was reported by 9.8% of the patients, out of which 70.5% were satisfied with its service and 73.5% considered that the use of TM had optimised their T2DM management. However, most of these patients noted aspects to be improved such as user-friendliness (81.4%), interaction with the medical team (78.4%) and time required for recording/transferring data (78.4%). Experienced patients had better perception about TM usefulness than naïve patients for all listed aspects (p