Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Back to Grand Rounds
Grand RoundsWeekly Evidence Brief

Family Medicine

Edition

30-Second Takeaway

  • ICM-based nurse-led diuretic alerts were safe but did not improve a 60-day composite HF outcome.
  • Task-shifted diabetes care by CHWs or village doctors can modestly improve engagement and glucose metrics.

Week ending May 30, 2026

Selected recent trials and reviews with direct primary care implications

ICM-driven nurse-managed diuretic protocol was safe but not efficacious for 60-day HF outcomes.

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGYMay 27, 2026

In ALLEVIATE-HF (n=711) an ICM risk-detection system plus centrally coordinated nurse-facilitated diuretic protocols did not improve the prespecified 60-day, five-component hierarchical composite (win ratio 0.79; 95% CI 0.62–1.01; P=0.06). Serious adverse events related to the intervention were rare at 0.32%, meeting the prespecified safety threshold. Cumulative cardiovascular death and HF events were numerically higher in the intervention arm (HR 1.43; 95% CI 0.95–2.15; P=0.091), a signal needing cautious interpretation. Exploratory adjustment for baseline imbalance neutralized the primary result, so this implementation strategy is not clearly effective.

Village doctor–led integrated care increased glucose monitoring and improved fasting glucose trends.

BMC GERIATRICSMay 27, 2026

In this cluster-randomized pilot (n=215), integrated care with telemedicine and incentives raised daily glucose monitoring adherence to 87.6% versus 76.5% in usual care. HbA1c fell more in the integrated arm (−0.42% vs −0.23%) over 3 months, but the between-group difference was not statistically significant. Fasting glucose showed a significant downward trend across 13 weeks (β = −0.077; P<0.001), driven more by the integrated arm. This model appears feasible in rural primary care but requires larger trials to confirm durable HbA1c benefits.

CHW-led, tablet-assisted diabetes care modestly improved 12-month HbA1c and engagement.

BMC MEDICINEMay 23, 2026

In rural Lesotho (primary analysis n=103), CHWs using tablet decision support achieved mean HbA1c 6.5% at 12 months versus 7.1% with facility referral (adjusted mean difference −0.46%, 95% CI −1.14 to 0.22). Engagement in care was higher in the CHW-led arm, with no important safety differences reported. Effect estimates were modest and CIs include the possibility of no benefit, so larger studies should confirm effectiveness and scalability.

References

Numbered in order of appearance. Click any reference to view details.

Additional Reads

Optional additional studies from this edition.

Edition context

Clinical signal

  • For HF patients with ICMs, avoid assuming alert-driven diuretic protocols improve short-term clinical outcomes.
  • In low-resource settings, consider supervised task-shifting plus decision support to improve diabetes follow-up.
  • Screen family psychiatric history in CHR-P assessments, but treat its link to transition risk as uncertain.