Document is current

Article History

Received: 31 July 2017

Accepted: 20 February 2018

First Online: 7 March 2018

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: This study was approved by the Joint CUHK-NTEC Clinical Research Ethics Committee. Agreeable patients gave written informed consent. This trial was pre-registered at ExternalRef removed under identifier NCT00950716 Registered July 31, 2009.

: Consent for publication of raw data was not obtained and the dataset could, in theory, pose a threat to confidentiality. The researchers did not specifically ask for anonymized data to be deposited in the public repository. All data are anonymized and captured using the portal implemented through the Asia Diabetes Foundation established as a knowledge transfer project in the form of a registered charitable research organization governed by the CUHK Foundation. A patient log was kept by the clinics for identification and linkage to the hospitalization data using the CMS governed by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, which is the main public healthcare provider in Hong Kong.

: JCNC has received research grant and honorarium for consultancy or giving lectures from Eli Lilly. All research grants were awarded to the CUHK or ADF. All honoraria have been donated to the Chinese University of Hong Kong to support diabetes research and education. JCNC is also the Chief Executive Officer (pro bono) of ADF, a charitable organisation governed by the CUHK Foundation (ExternalRef removed) which develops the web-based JADE program to conduct quality improvement and translational research programs through private-public partnerships. EF is the Global Director of the Peers for Progress, supported by the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and funded by Eli Lilly Company and Foundation. Other authors declared no conflict of interest relevant to this manuscript.

: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.