The effectiveness of mobile health technologies on the management of diabetes mellitus : a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) is the practice of medicine and public health using telecommunication technologies and mobile communication devices for the transmission of health information and the provision of health services. With tremendous disease burden caused by Diabetes Mellitus (DM), there is an exploding growth of mobile apps and wearing devices focusing on healthcare service delivery in diabetics control. Implementations of diabetics’ management in mobile are currently underway worldwide as a core objective of mHealth and it is widely believed that is an effective strategy. Given the gap in evidence for evaluating modern mHealth strategies other than telemedicine, a systematic review was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the modern mobile health on the management of diabetes mellitus and to identify possible key factors leading to positive health outcome.

Methodology: Three full text databases and one search engines are accessed to search English papers which were published between January 2005 and June 2015 and indexed with an inclusive string of medical subject headings and free terms. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) meeting the criterion were undergone critical appraisal while only papers with higher quality were included. Systematic analysis was performed to examine the interventions and outcome.

Results: 7 RCT were included for data extraction and synthesis. Key mHealth interventions were identified, which include blood glucose monitoring, short-message service (SMS) treatment recommendations, mobile health survey and other mobile technologies. Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was identified as the primary outcome measurement. Almost all studies had shown positive effect to the reduction of HbA1c as well as positive patient satisfaction.

Conclusions: The effectiveness of mHealth on the management of diabetes mellitus was recognized. As mobile phones and devices become more common and ubiquitous, mobile health technologies will continue to develop and bring better clinical outcomes to patients with diabetes mellitus and other diseases.