Effectiveness of the multidisciplinary Risk Assessment and Management Program for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (RAMP-DM) for diabetic microvascular complications: A population-based cohort study

Diabetes Metab. 2016 Dec;42(6):424-432. doi: 10.1016/j.diabet.2016.07.030. Epub 2016 Aug 24.

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary Risk Assessment and Management Program for Patients with Diabetes Mellitus (RAMP-DM) in reducing the risks of microvascular complications.

Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted with 29,670 propensity-score-matched RAMP-DM participants and diabetes patients under the usual primary care (14,835 in each group). Study endpoints were the first occurrence of any diabetic microvascular complications, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy/preproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR/prePDR), sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) or blindness, nephropathy, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), neuropathy and lower-limb ulcers or amputation. Log-rank tests and multivariable Cox proportional-hazards regressions were employed to estimate between-group differences in incidences of study endpoints.

Results: After a median follow-up of 36 months with>41,000 person-years in each group, RAMP-DM participants had a lower incidence of microvascular complications (760 vs 935; adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66-0.81; P<0.001) and lower incidences of all specific microvascular complications except neuropathy (adjusted HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.61-1.45; P=0.778). Adjusted HRs for the RAMP-DM vs control group for ESRD, STDR or blindness, and lower-limb ulcers or amputation were 0.40 (95% CI: 0.24-0.69; P<0.001), 0.55 (95% CI: 0.39-0.78; P=0.001) and 0.49 (95% CI: 0.30-0.80; P=0.005), respectively.

Conclusion: The RAMP-DM intervention was associated with lower incidences of all microvascular complications except neuropathy over a 3-year follow-up. These encouraging results constitute evidence that structured risk assessment and risk-stratified management provided by a multidisciplinary team is effective for reducing microvascular complications in diabetes patients.

Clinical trial registry: NCT02034695, www.ClinicalTrials.gov.

Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Microvascular complications; Multidisciplinary; Risk stratification.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Diabetic Angiopathies* / epidemiology
  • Diabetic Angiopathies* / prevention & control
  • Diabetic Angiopathies* / therapy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Assessment

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT02034695