Real-world Benefits of Diabetes Management App Use and Self-monitoring of Blood Glucose on Glycemic Control: Retrospective Analyses

Background: Among self-care measures, the self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is a critical component for checking blood glucose levels. In addition, there is growing evidence suggesting that digital technologies are being adopted as an additional method for health care systems to increase patient contact. However, for patients with non-insulin-treated diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2), the value of SMBG was inconsistent among studies, and the evidence for digital technologies from real-world clinical practice is still limited.

Objective: Our study aimed to assess patients with non-insulin-treated DMT2 who were receiving care from a single clinic and analyze whether the use of a diabetes management app and SMBG behavior would affect glycemic control in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: We collaborated with a large clinic focused on diabetes care in Taiwan that had been using the Health2Sync mobile app and web-based Patient Management Platform to collect the data. The patients were divided into 2 groups (app-engaged-user group and only-data-uploader group) according to different activities in the app, and blood glucose was recorded every month from 1 to 6 months after registration in the app. A sample of 420 patients was included in the analysis, and a linear mixed model was built to investigate which factors affected the patients' blood glucose percentage change.

Results: Using the mixed model coefficient estimates, we found that the percentage change was significantly negative when the only-data-uploader group was set as the baseline (t=-3.873, df=1.81 × 10⁴; P<.001 for the patients of the app-engaged-user group). We found that for patients with shorter diabetes duration, their blood glucose decreased more than patients with longer diabetes duration (t=2.823, df=1.71 × 10⁴; P=.005 for the number of years of diabetes duration). In addition, we found that for younger patients, their blood glucose decreased more than older patients (t=2.652, df=1.71 × 10⁴; P=.008 for the age of the patients). Furthermore, the patients with an education level of junior high school or lower saw a significantly greater decrease in blood glucose percentage change than the patients with an education level of senior high school or higher (t=4.996, df=1.72 × 10⁴; P<.001 for the patients with an education level of senior high school or higher). We also found that the count of blood glucose measured enlarged the decrease along the interaction months (t=-8.266, df=1.97 × 10⁴; P<.001 for the nth month × the count of blood glucose in the nth month). Lastly, the gender of the patients did not significantly affect the percentage change (t=0.534, df=1.74 × 10⁴; P=.59 for female patients).

Conclusions: Our analysis showed the following: the blood glucose percentage change of the patients in the app-engaged-user group dropped more than that in the only-data-uploader group; shorter diabetes duration is associated with a steeper decrease in the patients' blood glucose percentage change; the percentage decrease in blood glucose change in younger patients is greater than older patients; the blood glucose percentage change of the patients with an education level of junior high school or lower dropped more than those with an education level of senior high school or higher; and the more frequently the patients test SMBG each month, the greater the decrease in the patients' blood glucose percentage. Further studies can be performed to consider the differences in daily behaviors such as exercise and diet across the patients and whether these factors could have vital effects on glycemic control.