To study the feasibility of diabetes education through telemedicine in patients with diabetes
mellitus (DM) hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) management.
Methods:: This was a prospective study of 100 patients with DM who were admitted in a COVID isolation
ward for management of COVID-19. Patients managed with multiple subcutaneous insulin injections
were eligible. During teleconsultation, diabetes education including insulin injection technique was
given by a diabetes educator via a phone call (audio and video) during hospitalization. They were also reassessed after 2 weeks of discharge from the hospital via teleconsultation or in-person.
Results:: Out of 100 patients, 72.0% had prior history of diabetes while 28.0% were newly diagnosed. The
median age of our cohort was 56 years and median duration of diabetes was 7.0 years. Telemedicine as a
mode of consult for diabetes education was accepted by 96.0% of patients during hospitalization. At 2
weeks’ follow-up, 77.0% patients were following insulin instructions correctly and were satisfied with
this mode of consultation.