Impact of hospital-community diabetes management intervention in Central Region, Ghana: A retrospective study

Abstract

Objective

Effective diabetes management remains suboptimal in low-resourced countries including Ghana. We determined the effectiveness of hospital-community link diabetes management intervention on glycaemic control and other outcomes.

Methods

A retrospective study design, using secondary data from the Ghana-Netherlands for Health Foundation diabetes programme. The z-test was used for proportions, to compare parameters between baseline (2017) and endpoint (2022). The Friedman test was used to assess changes in blood glucose levels, and the multivariable Logistic regression to identify factors associated with blood glucose control.

Results

Analyses of 251 clinical records showed decline in median blood glucose levels across six years from 8.8 mmol/L (7.2–12.9) in 2017 to 6.5 mmol/L (5.7–7.2) (p = 0.001) in 2022, recording 43 % increase in patients attaining glycaemic control in 2022 (p = 0.001). The Friedman test showed significant reduction in glucose levels (χ² = 319.2, p = 0.001), with an effect size of 0.25 using the Kendall test. The logistic regression analyses revealed that patients on metformin and Glibenclamide combination were more likely to achieve glycaemic control than those on metformin monotherapy (adjusted OR = 7.30, 95 % CI 2.31–23.01, p = 0.001).

Conclusion

The intervention achieved significant reduction in blood glucose levels. Patients with diabetes benefit from the hospital-community link diabetes management intervention regarding glycaemic control.