The role of community pharmacy in diabetes prevention
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The community pharmacy setting for the delivery of diabetes prevention programmes: a mixed methods study in people with ‘prediabetes’
IRAS ID
227930
Contact name
Thando Katangwe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 29 days
Research summary
In England, 3.8m adults are estimated to be living with diabetes with 90% of them estimated to have type 2 diabetes (T2D). The management of diabetes costs the National Health Service (NHS) £8.8b a year, almost 10% of the total budget. Additionally, there are 5 million people in England at high risk of developing T2D. This risk is mainly as a result of obesity and lack of exercise. People at high risk have blood sugar levels above the normal range, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. This is sometimes known as prediabetes.
Studies show that T2D can be prevented or delayed if people with pre-diabetes are identified early and engage in weight loss and exercise programmes. However, most studies show low participation rates of people with prediabetes in diabetes prevention programmes (DPP) with common reasons including unsuitable location and time of the programmes, work and family commitments and transportation. Therefore, the accessibility of DPPs is very important.
In 2016 the NHS launched a national DPP, with guidelines recommending its delivery in different settings including community pharmacy. Community pharmacy, as the most visited NHS site in England, is open during weekends and evenings and is within a 20-minute walk for almost 90% of the population. However, although community pharmacy provides an opportunity for delivering a more flexible programme there is a lack of evidence demonstrating the successful delivery of DPPs in this setting. The aim of this research is to explore factors that influence participation in DPPs and to gain views that will shape a community pharmacy-based DPP. We will carry this out by means of a questionnaire, interviews and group discussions with people with prediabetes. Participants will be recruited from GP practices which are currently involved in the identification of people with prediabetes in Norfolk and Norwich.REC name
East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EM/0314
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion