Commenced:             October 2006 

Centres involved:       6

No recruited:               437

Completion date:       October 2012 (5 year grant + 12 months no-cost extension)

In 2005 the Health Research Board in Ireland awarded the Irish DAFNE Study Group a five year programme grant under their Health Services R&D award.

This randomised controlled trial evaluating 2 methods of follow-up care post-DAFNE training, comparing structured group follow-up with a return to usual clinical care.  

  • To develop a new model of ongoing care for DAFNE Graduates based on group follow-up and peer support.
  • To undertaking an exploratory trial comparing this new model of care (group follow-up of DAFNE graduates) with “usual care”, ie a return to one-to-one clinic visits following DAFNE training
  • To incorporate a health economic analysis to inform future policy making
  • A qualitative sub-study will also further inform patient experiences of group follow-up versus traditional one-to-one clinic visits
  • Current Controlled Trials Ltd registration: http://www/controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN79759174

 

Update:

All baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months follow-up data has now been collected.  Main results manuscript currently (24/10/11) for peer review with the British Medical Journal.

  1. Dinneen SF, O'Hara MC, Newell J, Coffey N, Byrne M, O’ Shea D, Smith D, Courtney H, McGurk C, O’ Scannáil M, Breen C, for the Irish DAFNE Study Group. Group follow-up compared to individual follow-up after structured education for type 1 diabetes: the Irish DAFNE Study. Abstract accepted for oral presentation at the 47th European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-16 September 2011. Diabetologia, 2011, 54(Suppl 1):S33
  2. O' Hara MC, Dinneen SF, Newell J, Coffey N, Byrne M, for the Irish DAFNE Study Group. Comparing the effect of 2 different methods of follow-up after structured group education on psychosocial measures in patients with type 1 diabetes: the Irish DAFNE Study. Abstract accepted for oral presentation at the 47th European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-16 September 2011. Diabetologia, 2011, 54(Suppl 1):S97
  3. Qualitative and other psychosocial results have been presented at Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference 2011, the European Health Psychology Conference, Crete, Greece, Sept  20 – 24, 2011, the 31st Conference on Applied Statistics in Ireland, 18-21st May 2011 and 17th Qualitative Health Research (QHR) Conference Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada October 25-27, 2011.

International Comparison Study:

 Commenced : February 2010

Completion date: October 2012

 Comparative exploration of patient behaviours and outcomes following structured education programmes for people with Type 1 diabetes: Ireland, UK and Germany. This Ph.D study aims to explore differences in type 1 diabetes outcomes in 3 separate cohorts of people from Ireland, the UK and Germany who have all participated in a SEP. An important component of the work will be to contextualise and evaluate healthcare and cultural organisation and structure in the 3 countries

Quantitative study

A common dataset is being collected across ten centres in Germany who deliver the precursor of DAFNE, the Insulin Training and Teaching Programme (ITTP), ten DAFNE research centres in the UK and seven DAFNE centres in Ireland.  Follow up data to be collected at 12 months post-DAFNE/ ITTP training.

Qualitative study

Interviews will be conducted with 16 patients and 4 educators from each country before DAFNE/ ITTP with repeat interviews within 6 months following the course to explore their experiences, behaviours and opinions. Courses in all three countries will also be observed in their entirety with in-depth field notes accompanying the observations.


Last Updated: 23/04/2013