Skip to main content

Table 3 Characteristics of included studies

From: Using mHealth applications for self-care – An integrative review on perceptions among adults with type 1 diabetes

Study & Year

Country

Aim

Study design

Population & setting

Intervention/expo-sure

Developer/ manufact-urer

Outcome extracteda

Boyle, L., et al. (2017) [27]

New Zealand

To establish whether people with diabetes use apps to assist with diabetes self-management and which features are useful or desirable

Cross-sectional design; web based survey

Adults with diabetesb recruited from a secondary care diabetes outpatient clinic; N (with T1D) = 105

Not applicable

Not applicable

Features, factors affecting use

Di Bartolo, P., et al. (2017) [28]

Italy

To compare iBGStar + DMApp with a traditional glucose meter in type 1 diabetes adolescents/ young adults

Randomized controlled trial

Type 1 diabetes subjects aged 14–24 years, treated with insulin, HbA1c ≥ 8.0%, and poor SMBG compliance recruited from 21 diabetes clinics; N (Adults) = 81

iBGStar™ glucose meter (MDR$ class 2) + iBGStar™ Diabetes Manager Application (MDR$ class 1) installed on the iPod touch or iPhone OS was used for 12 months

Sanofi Agamatrix Inc

PROM (AADQoL 19)

Drion, I., et al. (2015) [29]

Netherlands

To investigate the effects of the DBEES mobile phone diary application, on quality of life for patients with T1DM along with diabetes-related distress, HbA1c, SMBG, and usability of the diabetes application

Randomised controlled trial

Adults aged ≥ 18 years with T1DM, treated with insulin and own a smartphone recruited from a diabetes outpatient clinic; N = 63

The DBEES smartphone application and a linked personal web portal to enter diabetes-related self-care data used for 3 months

Freshware, Poland

PROMs (RAND 36, PAID)

Feuerstein-Simon, C., et al. (2018) [30]

USA

To examine the real-world use of a smartphone app, which receives meter readings and logs hypoglycemic symptoms, causes, and treatments to reduce hypoglycemia

Quasi-experimental design; Pilot study

Adults aged ≥ 21 years with T1D & current use of a smartphone recruited at the Joslin Diabetes Centre; N = 22

Joslin HypoMap™ app powered by Glooko to track hypoglycemic events & symptoms used for 12 weeks

Dr Howard Wolpert and powered by Glooko

PROM (Clarke’s survey)

Jeon, E., & Park, H. A. (2019) [31]

South Korea

To evaluate a diabetes self-care app by measuring differences in diabetes self-care factors between before and after using the app with the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model of Diabetes Self-Care

Quasi-experimental design

Adults aged ≥ 19 years with diabetesb and own an android smartphone recruited through self-help websites for patients with diabetes; N (T1D) = 8

A research group developed diabetes self-care application used for 4 weeks

Author developed

PROMs (D-SMART, DFBC)

Kirwan, M., et al. (2013) [32]

Australia

To examine the effectiveness of a freely available smartphone application combined with text-message feedback to improve glycemic control and other diabetes-related outcomes in adult patients with type 1 diabetes

Randomized controlled trial

Adults aged 18–65 years with T1DM > 6 months, HbA1c > 7.5%, treated with insulin and own an iPhone recruited nationwide online; N = 72

Glucose Buddy, a free diabetes self-management iPhone application used for 9 months and Certified diabetes educator weekly review of data entered for 6 months

Skyhealth LLC

PROMs (DQoL, DES-SF, SDSCA)

Knight, B. A., et al. (2016) [33]

Australia

The aim of this study was to obtain user feedback on the usability of the RapidCalc app in adults with T1DM towards identifying user preferences and further development of this application

Qualitative focus group interview with thematic analysis

Adults aged 18–65 years with T1DM who were recent graduates of a flexible insulin management education program with HbA1c 7–10%; N = 7

A locally developed RapidCalc mobile phone app for diabetes self-care and specifically for flexible insulin management used for 1 month

Locally developed and acquired by A. Menarini Diagnostics

Features, factors affecting use

Mora, P., et al. (2017) [34]

USA

To assess the impact of using the Accu-Chek Connect diabetes management system on treatment satisfaction, diabetes distress, and glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes and insulin-treated type 2 diabetes

Quasi-experimental design

Adults aged ≥ 18 years with poorly controlled T1D experienced with Smartphone use recruited from primary care practices and diabetes specialty practices; N = 10

The Accu-Chek- Connect diabetes management system (MDR$ class 2) used for 6 months

Roche diabetes care

PROMs (DDS, DTSQ)

Ritholz, M. D., et al. (2019) [35]

USA

To explore qualitatively PWDs’ experiences using the integrated Sugar Sleuth technology to better understand how their experiences affected their diabetes self-management

Qualitative descriptive design, with thematic analysis

Adults aged 25–75 years with T1D ≥ 1 year, treated with insulin and HbA1c 7.5% -9.5% recruited at a diabetes specialty center; N = 10

The Sugar Sleuth system consisting of FreeStyle Libre, a wearable glucose sensor, and a mobile phone app used for 14 weeks

Abbott diabetes care

Features, factors affecting use

Skrøvseth, S. O., et al., (2012) [36]

Norway

To explore how self-gathered data could help users improve their blood glucose management

Quasi-experimental design

Adults with T1D attending a university Hospital; N = 30

The Few Touch Application (FTA)

Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine (NST)

Factors affecting use

Tack, C., et al. (2018) [37]

Netherlands

To evaluate a prototype integrated mobile phone diabetes app in people with type 1 diabetes

Quasi-experimental design

Adults 18–65 years, with T1D ≥ 2 years, stable HbA1c 7%-10%, on variable bolus insulin dose and using a smartphone recruited at the outpatient clinics of a university hospital; N = 20

A prototype of an integrated mobile diabetes app used for 6 weeks

The Radboud University Medical Center, Royal Philips-the Netherlands & Salesforce (USA)

Features, factors affecting use, PROMs (CIDS, PAID, HFS)

Trawley, S., et al. (2017) [38]

Australia

To investigate the frequency of diabetes specific app use among a sample of adults in Australia with Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes

Cross sectional survey

Adults aged 18–75 years with T1D recruited via a national level web-based survey; N (T1D) = 795

Not applicable

Not applicable

Features, factors affecting use

Zahed, K., et al. (2020) [39]

USA

To understand diabetic patients’ perceptions of hypoglycemic tremors, as well as their user experiences with technology to manage diabetes, and expectations from a self-management tool

Cross sectional survey

Adults aged ≥ 18 years with T1DM recruited via a national level web-based survey; N = 212

Not applicable

Not applicable

Features

Årsand, E., et al. (2015) [40]

Norway & Czech republic

To explore the interoperability and usability of a wearable computing device in conjunction with a developed smartphone application, and to evaluate its use in diabetes self-management

Quasi-experimental design; Usability study

Adults with type 1 diabetes recruited from an earlier NST project and affiliates from Motol University Hospital, Prague; N = 6

A Pebble smartwatch diabetes diary app for self-care data entry & tracking used for 2 weeks

Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Czech technical University in Prague & NST

Features, factors affecting use

  1. a Outcomes extracted in relation to patient perspective, b Only results for T1D participants included in this study
  2. AADQoL Audit of diabetes dependent quality of life, BP Blood pressure, CIDS Confidence in diabetes self-care, DDS Diabetes distress scale, DES-SF Diabetes empowerment scale short form, DFBC Diabetes self-management assessment report tool, DQoL Diabetes quality of life, D-SMART Diabetes self-management assessment report tool, DTSQ Diabetes treatment satisfaction questionnaire, HCP Health care professional, HFS Hypoglycemia fear survey, MDR$ Medical device regulation class as per US food and drugs administration, NST Norwegian Centre for Integrated Care and Telemedicine, OPD Outpatient departments, PAID Problem areas in diabetes, RAND 36 health-related quality of life, RCT Randomized control trial, SDSCA Summary of diabetes self-care activity, SMBG Self-monitoring of blood glucose, T1DM type 1 diabetes mellitus