The effect of a phone call on the management of diabetes is not clear. This study is aimed to evaluate the current evidence of phone calls on glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes and the improvement in diabetes self-care worldwide and the Middle East. The researcher conducted a systematic narrative review. The review included studies on PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Google Scholar, and Excerpta Medica Data Base. Studies reporting phone calls in the follow-up of an adult patient with diabetes were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome was a reduction of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The secondary outcome was the improvement in diabetes self-care. A total of 18 studies out of 1,367 articles met the inclusion criteria. The studies included were eight randomized control trials, five systematic reviews and meta-analyses, three quasi-experimental studies, and two interventional studies. The age of participants ranged from 16.5 to 71 years, and the intervention lengths ranged from 3 to 60 months. All studies included HbA1c as the primary measured outcome. Phone call interventions reduced HbA1c to between 0.1% and 1.52% compared to usual care. Eleven studies reported improved diabetes self-care using phone calls in the follow-up. The findings revealed that adults with type 2 diabetes achieve an excellent reduction in HbA1c by phone calls in follow-up and management compared to usual office care. Furthermore, they achieve better diabetes self-care.
Key words: Diabetes self-care, HbA1c, phone call, type 2 diabetes
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