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AIMS: To explore health professionals' views about insulin pump therapy [continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII)] and the types of individuals they thought would gain greatest clinical benefit from using this treatment. METHODS: In-depth interviews with staff (n = 18) who delivered the Relative Effectiveness of Pumps Over MDI and Structured Education (REPOSE) trial. Data were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Staff perceived insulin pumps as offering a better self-management tool to some individuals due to the drip feed of insulin, the ability to alter basal rates and other advanced features. However, staff also noted that, because of the diversity of features on offer, CSII is a more technically complex therapy to execute than multiple daily injections. For this reason, staff described how, alongside clinical criteria, they had tended to select individuals for CSII in routine clinical practice based on their perceptions about whether they possessed the personal and psychological attributes needed to make optimal use of pump technology. Staff also described how their assumptions about personal and psychological suitability had been challenged by working on the REPOSE trial and observing individuals make effective use of CSII who they would not have recommended for this type of therapy in routine clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings add to those studies that highlight the difficulties of using patient characteristics and variables to predict clinical success using CSII. To promote equitable access to CSII, attitudinal barriers and prejudicial assumptions amongst staff about who is able to make effective use of CSII may need to be addressed.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/dme.12879

Type

Journal article

Journal

Diabet med

Publication Date

02/2016

Volume

33

Pages

243 - 251

Keywords

Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Attitude of Health Personnel, Clinical Decision-Making, Cluster Analysis, Combined Modality Therapy, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Hyperglycemia, Hypoglycemia, Insulin Infusion Systems, Nurse Clinicians, Nutritionists, Patient Compliance, Patient Education as Topic, Precision Medicine, Prejudice, Professional-Patient Relations, Qualitative Research, Risk, United Kingdom, Workforce