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Despite the
DAFNE approach being proven to work in Europe, many thought that it
would not work in the UK.
In 1998 a team from 3 UK diabetes units (Sheffield Teaching Hospitals,
Northumbria Healthcare Trust and Kings College Hospital, London)
travelled to Düsseldorf to observe Professor Bergers course,
to determine the suitability for the UK healthcare setting. They concluded
that such a programme would be suitable for UK patients and decided
to develop it for use in this country.
In 1999 the UK team received funding from Diabetes UK to enable them
to develop the German course - translate the German curriculum, develop
specific course resources - and conduct an 18-month Feasibility
Study which commenced in February 2000.
169 adults with poorly controlled Type 1 diabetes were recruited and
randomised to 1 of 2 groups. One group (Immediate DAFNE)
attended the 5-day DAFNE course immediately, whilst the second group
(Delayed DAFNE) acted as controls receiving their standard
diabetes care.
After 6 months the 2 groups were compared for a range of biomedical
and psychological measures. The Delayed DAFNE group then completed
a DAFNE course.
After a further 6 months the 2 groups were once again compared using
the same biomedical and psychological measures.
The results (published in the British Medical Journal in October 2002)
[11] revealed that the
5-day DAFNE course improved blood glucose control, quality of life
and treatment satisfaction.
If you are interested in reading a full account of the DAFNE trial
you can view the paper on the BMJ
website
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