Abstract: Objective: To explore the effect of internet-based continuous care on glucose control, blood lipid and other metabolic indexes as well as psychological and behavioral influences in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: A total of 210 patients with type 2 diabetes who were admitted to the Endocrinology Department of a grade A class 3 hospital in Hefei from January to June 2020 were collected. Patients were randomly and equally divided into control group (n=105) and intervention group (n=105). Patients in the control group followed routine in-hospital and out-of-hospital management according to the traditional clinical pathway. On the basis of routine management, patients in the intervention group received internet-based continuous care following the hospital-department-community-home management approach. The two management methods lasted for a total of three months, and the metabolic indexes such as blood glucose and lipids levels before and after the intervention, as well as self-management behaviors and the incidence of emotional disorders were assessed and compared between two groups. Results: There was one patient failed to complete the activities in the intervention group. At baseline, there was no statistically significant differences between patients in both groups, in terms of their basic characteristics and study variables (P>0.05). After the intervention, metabolic indexes including blood glucose, lipid level and body mass index in the intervention group were better than those in the control group (P<0.05). The score of self-management behaviors of patients in the intervention group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of severe mood disorder in the intervention group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: internet-based continuous care can significantly improve the metabolic indicators of patients with type 2 diabetes, such as blood sugar and lipid levels, enhance patients' diabetes self-management behaviors and effectively reduce the occurrence of negative emotions.

Key words: diabetes mellitus; internet; continuous care; self-management behavior; negative emotions