Through this review , we found two key health system barriers to effective T2DM care and management : financial constraints faced by the patient and limited access to health services and medication .
This review points to the importance of reducing , or possibly eliminating , out-of-pocket costs for diabetes medication and self-monitoring supplies .
BACKGROUND Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ( T2DM ) is reported to affect one in 11 adults worldwide , with over 80 % of T2DM patients residing in low-to-middle-income countries .
Health systems play an integral role in responding to this increasing global prevalence , and are key to ensuring effective diabetes management .
We conducted a systematic review to examine the health system-level factors influencing T2DM awareness , treatment , adherence , and control .
Peer support for patients with type 2 diabetes: cluster randomised controlled trial
Objective To test the effectiveness of  peer support  for patients with type 2 diabetes . Design Cluster r and omised controlled . Setting 20 general practice s in the east of the Republic of Irel and . Participants 395 patients ( 192 in intervention group , 203 in control group ) and 29 peer supporters with type 2 diabetes . Intervention All practice s introduced a st and ardised diabetes care system . The peer support intervention ran over a two year period and contained four elements : the recruitment and training of peer supporters , nine group meetings led by peer supporters in participant ’s own general practice , and a retention plan for the peer supporters . Main outcome measures HbA1c ; cholesterol concentration ; systolic blood pressure ; and wellbeing score . Results There was no difference between intervention and control patients at baseline . All practice s and 85 % ( 337 ) of patients were followed up . At two year follow-up , there were no significant differences in HbA1c ( mean difference −0.08 % , 95 % confidence interval −0.35 % to 0.18 % ) , systolic blood pressure ( −3.9 mm Hg , −8.9 to 1.1 mm Hg ) , total cholesterol concentration ( −0.03 mmol/L , −0.28 to 0.22 mmol/L ) , or wellbeing scores ( −0.7 , −2.3 to 0.8 ) . While there was a trend towards decreases in the proportion of patients with poorly controlled risk factors at follow-up , particularly for systolic blood pressure ( 52 % ( 87/166 ) > 130 mm Hg in intervention v 61 % ( 103/169 ) > 130 mm Hg in control ) , these changes were not significant . The process evaluation indicated that the intervention was generally delivered as intended , though 18 % ( 35 ) of patients in the intervention group never attended any group meetings . Conclusions A group based peer support intervention is feasible in general practice setting s , but the intervention was not effective when targeted at all patients with type 2 diabetes . While there was a trend towards improvements of clinical outcomes , the results do not support the widespread adoption of peer support . Trial registration Current Controlled Trials IS RCT N42541690
Through this review , we found two key health system barriers to effective T2DM care and management : financial constraints faced by the patient and limited access to health services and medication .
This review points to the importance of reducing , or possibly eliminating , out-of-pocket costs for diabetes medication and self-monitoring supplies .
BACKGROUND Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus ( T2DM ) is reported to affect one in 11 adults worldwide , with over 80 % of T2DM patients residing in low-to-middle-income countries .
Health systems play an integral role in responding to this increasing global prevalence , and are key to ensuring effective diabetes management .
We conducted a systematic review to examine the health system-level factors influencing T2DM awareness , treatment , adherence , and control .