Diabetes Risk Assessment and Medical Referral or Signposting V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Diabetes Risk Assessment and Medical Referral or Signposting (DRAMeRS)
IRAS ID
306747
Contact name
Laura Beaton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Education for Scotland
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN16798215
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
The DRAMeRS study will compare the effectiveness of direct referral versus signposting, at facilitating contact between dental patients at moderate or high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a healthcare professional.
It has been suggested in recent years by government policy documents such as the Oral Health Improvement Plan that patients could receive general health checks while attending their dental practice for a routine appointment. Using risk assessment for type 2 diabetes as an example of a general health check, this study will compare the effectiveness of direct referral or signposting to a healthcare professional. The study will also explore the views and experiences of dental patients and dentists about the use of the risk assessment in a dental setting.
Adult dental patients who attend an NHS dental vocational training practice for a routine appointment will be invited to take part. If eligible, consenting patients will be asked at this appointment to complete an online risk assessment tool provided by Diabetes UK. Participating dental vocational training practices will be randomly allocated to deliver either a direct referral or a signposting intervention to patients with a risk level of "high" or "moderate" to facilitate contact with a healthcare professional.
One month later, all participating patients will be asked to complete an online questionnaire which will ask if they made contact with a healthcare professional - this is the main outcome measure of the study. They will also be asked about their experience of being risk assessed in a dental setting, how they felt about being told their risk level and their thoughts about doing general health checks such as this in a dental setting. Participating dentists will also be asked to complete an online questionnaire about their thoughts and experiences about conducting general health checks in a dental setting.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
22/ES/0004
Date of REC Opinion
15 Mar 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion