RSS Feeds
Introduction
- Charles M. Clark Jr., MD; and
- Frank Vinicor, MD
- From the Regenstrief Institute, Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. Grant Support: In part, by the Diabetes Research and Training Center, National Institutes of Health (PHS P60DK20542), the Regenstrief Institute, and the Veterans Affairs Research Service. Requests for Reprints: Charles M. Clark Jr., MD, Regenstrief Institute, 1001 W. 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. Current Author Addresses: Dr. Clark: Regenstrief Institute, 1001 W. 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202.
The Regenstrief Institute for Health Care
“Sam” Regenstrief was recognized nationally as an authority on industrial production techniques. He contended that innovation and new technology as applied to medical and health system problems would provide better health care for more people at less cost. Sam joined forces with a nationally recognized authority in the health field, John B. Hickam, MD, then Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine, and the Regenstrief Foundation and Regenstrief Institute for Health Care were formed in 1969.
The Fifth Regenstrief Conference
The Regenstrief Foundation directors established the Regenstrief Conferences in 1985 to foster information exchange and personal discourse about specific health research issues and their policy implications. The Regenstrief Conferences invite a group of knowledgeable individuals to present information on important topics in the Institute's areas of research, followed by publication of the proceedings in a peer-reviewed journal.
This year's conference was prompted by publication of the main results of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) [1] and by the subsequent questions about the applicability of these findings to patients with non–insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). The data showed unequivocally that strict glycemic control of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) can both delay the onset and slow the progression of retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy [1]. These results, however, heightened the debate about whether patients with NIDDM would benefit similarly from intensified management [2-4].
The issues being debated relate to the “generalizability” or “external validity” of the DCCT [5]. In other words, how should the DCCT results be applied to persons with diabetes mellitus who were not part of the study group itself, who may receive care in different clinical settings, or who have a type of diabetes mellitus different from those studied in the DCCT? More specifically, can a framework be established to consider whether the DCCT results …
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
