The Use of Mobile Apps to Improve Diabetes Self-Management: A Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Inagaki ◽  
Kenji Kato ◽  
Kozue Abe ◽  
Takeshi Kawamoto ◽  
Hiroaki Takahashi ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Background: Healthcare apps on smartphones are used to retrieve health information and manage health. A number of healthcare apps have been employed to support diabetes self-management, and evidence has accumulated on the outcomes of interventions using individual apps. However, only a small percentage of all healthcare apps have a proven effect on people with diabetes, and it is unclear which apps should be recommended in non-English-speaking countries. Verifying that the healthcare apps used by people with diabetes are useful for diabetes management behaviors will help healthcare providers know which apps to recommend. OBJECTIVE Objective: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether and how the use of healthcare apps affects the self-management behavior of people with diabetes. METHODS Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire was given to patients with type 2 diabetes who were pre-registered with an Internet research company. The items on the questionnaire involved the use of smartphone healthcare apps, diabetes self-management behaviors (Japan Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities [J-SDSCA]), motivations for diabetes self-management (autonomous motivation and controlled motivation), and feelings of competence in self-management (Perceived Competence for Diabetes Scale). To examine whether a healthcare app had an effect on the self-management behavior score, a multiple regression analysis was conducted with the J-SDSCA score as the objective variable. RESULTS Results: Of the 253 participants, 61 (24.1%) indicated that they were currently using a healthcare app. Those using a healthcare app had a significantly higher J-SDSCA score than those not using one (beta =.15, 95% CI 0.60–3.54, P <.001). Regarding the frequency of exercise, the use of apps for steps and walking distance led to a significant difference (beta =.22, 95% CI 0.59–1.90, P <.001). For general diet, the use of any healthcare app had no significant effect (P =.22). CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: The use of healthcare apps was beneficial for diabetes self-management. Given that even non-specialized apps can improve diabetes self-management behaviors, health care providers should encourage patients to use apps that are tailored to their preferences and that are easy to use long-term. The use of healthcare apps was particularly associated with increased exercise regimen efforts. Recommending the use of healthcare apps, especially apps that include pedometers, could be useful when patients have problems with exercise.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-454
Author(s):  
Manuela Sinisterra ◽  
Katherine Patterson Kelly ◽  
Caitlin Shneider ◽  
Ashley El-Zein ◽  
Ellen Swartwout ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of the study was to explore facilitators and barriers to self-management behaviors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to inform the development of an mHealth platform. Methods Eight adolescents with T1D, 9 parents, and 13 health care providers participated in separate focus groups that explored teen self-management behaviors. Results Adolescents and their parents have distinct preferences for handling diabetes management and use of mHealth technologies. Health care providers support the use of new technologies yet acknowledge concern meeting the potential increased volume of communication requests from teens and families. Conclusion Stakeholders agreed that an ideal mHealth platform would facilitate open communication between teens and their care network and easily integrate with other diabetes technologies. Future directions include incorporating additional feedback from stakeholders to build and modify the mHealth platform. The use of mHealth platforms could be integrated into clinical practice to optimize self-management and support communication between educators, providers, and families in between clinic visits.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 234-241
Author(s):  
Fay Mitchell-Brown

Successful management of diabetes depends on the individual’s ability to manage and control symptoms. Self-management of diabetes is believed to play a significant role in achieving positive outcomes for patients. Adherence to self-management behaviors supports high-quality care, which reduces and delays disease complications, resulting in improved quality of life. Because self-management is so important to diabetes management and involves a lifelong commitment for all patients, health care providers should actively promote ways to maintain and sustain behavior change that support adherence to self-management. A social ecological model of behavior change (McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, 1988) helps practitioners provide evidence-based care and optimizes patients’ clinical outcomes. This model supports self-management behaviors through multiple interacting interventions that can help sustain behavior change. Diabetes is a complex chronic disease; successful management must use multiple-level interventions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Eshagh Ildarabadi ◽  
Hamed Mortazavi ◽  
Ali Talebi ◽  
Toktam Kianian ◽  
Saman Saber

<p><strong>INTRODUCTION: </strong>Health care providers (Behvarzan) are the primary health care givers and their educational skills are an important factor to offer safe health care and promote the public health. So that this study was conducted to evaluate the educational skills among health care providers in educating the referrals to health homes.</p><p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This cross-sectional was conducted in health homes of Esfarayen health care network in 2015. By the method of enumeration 81 health care providers were included to the study. Data was collected by the questionnaire of evaluating the educational skills of Behvarz(s) designed by the researcher. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and analytical tests such as Pearson's correlation, independent T-test and ANOVA by the SPSS v.20.</p><p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The results of this study had shown that 45.7% of subjects had good educational skills. Also the statistical calculation showed a significant difference between some variables such as internet usage (p=0.008) and internet usage in workplace (p=0.001) with Behvarz(s) educational skills.</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>The educational skills of Behvarz(s) working in health homes was satisfactory. A significant relation was found between educational skills and some other factors. So then planning for upgrading the educational skills of Behvarz(s) and conducting much more studies to find effective factors on educational skills is recommended.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-25
Author(s):  
Parham Maroufi ◽  
Jafar Ghobadi ◽  
Mina Mojarrad ◽  
Ali Adib

Introduction: Considering the importance of tetanus vaccination in children and adults, recognizing the necessities and priorities of tetanus vaccine injection is essential for health care providers. Medical interns have a crucial role in treating patients at hospitals and as future physicians. This study aims to evaluate Tabriz University of Medical Sciences medical interns' knowledge about tetanus vaccination in patients with trauma. Methods: All interns of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences enrolled in the study. Interns who did not want to participate in the study and those on-call were excluded from the study. Eventually, 250 interns gathered in a conference hall, and a questionnaire of 10 questions was presented to them as a hypothetical traumatic event. Correct and incorrect answers to each question, age, and gender were analyzed. Results: Only in three questions, more than half of the participants answered correctly. These were questions 10, 1, and 2, with 67.2%, 59.2%, and 50.8% of participants answering them correctly, respectively. Also, in 5 questions, less than 20% answered correctly. The maximum overall score was 7. Analysis of these results between the two sexes did not show a significant difference in the number of correct answers and the percentage response to each question. Additionally, age was not indicated as a variable involved in the total score of the participants. Conclusion: Regardless of the age and gender, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences’ medical interns’ knowledge about the precise indications of tetanus prevention in adults and children is poor.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Andi Mayasari Usman ◽  
Rian Adi Pamungkas

Diabetes mellitus is one of the global problems the world. Since the complexity of the patient’s tasks is required in the diabetes care, the consistency to engage this various health behavior for addressing the glycemic control target is difficult to achieve. Failure management may reflect by patient, family, inadequate intervention strategies by health care provider as well as organization factor. Three databases used such as PubMed, MIDLINE, and CINAHL to address patient’s barriers, family’s barriers, and provider’s barriers as well as organization barriers for diabetes management. Patient’s attitudes and belief, knowledge, culture, and ethnicity, self-efficacy, financial resources and economic status, lack of Social Support Perceived, and lack of time may influence the diabetes self-management. Family factors lead to patients’ diabetes self-management such as lack of knowledge and skill to support patients in diabetes management and quality of the relationship between patients-family. Health care providers factors included beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and skill and patient–family-provider interaction and communication. Other factors lead to diabetes self-management and health care provider performance to provide the intervention from organization level such as integrated health system sufficiency health insurance to support resources. A deeper understanding of the barriers in diabetes management is necessary to improve the diabetes care and quality of health care services for patients with diabetes. Further research needs to consider these barriers before designing the effective, sensitive interventions and problem solving for diabetes care


Author(s):  
K C Leena ◽  
Irene Alvares ◽  
Sonia Karen Liz Sequeira ◽  
Priya Sweety Pereira ◽  
N C Deepika ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Type 2 diabetes impacts greatly on quality of life. Health-care providers must focus on efforts to detect, treat, and manage clients through supportive educative approach. This study aims to measure effectiveness of nurse-led home care interventions. Materials and Methods This study among 103 diabetic subjects measured baseline blood pressure (BP), weight, and blood glucose levels. Information on compliance was obtained using a rating scale consisting of domains: dietary habits, exercise, rest, sleep, symptom management, prevention of complications, medication, and follow-up. Individualized comprehensive nursing interventions (education, testing, counselling) were provided, that were reinforced two times a week for 4 weeks, with minimum 7 home visits carried out by the researchers who are registered nurses and teaching faculty along with six interns of BSc nursing program. Post-tests were obtained at second and fourth weeks after start of intervention. Results Significant improvement in blood sugar (p < 0.05), systolic BP (p < 0.001), and diastolic BP (p < 0.001) was observed. There was no change in body mass index (BMI) (p > 0.05). Post-hoc analysis found significant difference between pre-, post1- and post2-measures. Significant association was found between dietary habits and BMI (p < 0.05) and diastolic BP (p < 0.05). Compliance improved from 29 (28.2%) to 47(45.6%), partially compliant from 55 (53.4%) to 45 (43.7%) and noncompliant 19 (18.4%) to 11 (10.7%), with a clear improvement in each of the domains of compliance. Conclusion Individualized comprehensive interventions delivered at the natural environment of families by registered nurses effectively improve compliance to diabetes management.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahid Zarifsanaiey ◽  
Masoomeh Otrodi Shirazi ◽  
Manoosh Mehrabi ◽  
Zahra Bagheri

Abstract Background: This study aimed to assess the effects of digital storytelling on the self-management behavior of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TID). Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 60 adolescents with TID were randomly allocated into two parallel groups: intervention (training with digital storytelling method, n=33) or control (training with a conventional method, n=33). The primary outcome was the assessment of the Self-Management behavior of adolescents with TID (SMOD-A), at baseline and three months after the intervention.Results: The results revealed that digital storytelling can lead to significant improvement in self-management behaviors amongst the adolescents with TID (P=0.005), while in the control group no significant changes were observed (P>0.05). The results also showed that the level of collaboration with parent’s dimension scores had a significant reverse relationship with the adolescent age after digital storytelling (p = 0.048). With respect to HbA1c levels, significant changes were not observed in any of the groups (P>0.05).Conclusions: Digital storytelling is practicable and a potentially beneficial training modality for adolescents with TID.Trial registration: This trial was respectively registered.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: IRCT20191220045828N1. Date of registration: Oct 29. 2020(https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04608058?term=zarifsanaiey&draw=2&rank=1)


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorour Salehi Baghbaderani ◽  
Parastou Mokarian ◽  
Parisa Moazzam

Background: Diabetes self-management is complex and demanding, and isolation and burnout are common experiences. The Internet provides opportunities for people with diabetes to connect with one another to address these challenges. The aims of this paper are to introduce readers to the platforms on which Diabetes Online Community (DOC) participants interact, to discuss reasons for and risks associated with diabetes-related online activity, and to review research related to the potential impact of DOC participation on diabetes outcomes. Methods: Research and online content related to diabetes online activity is reviewed, and DOC writing excerpts are used to illustrate key themes. Guidelines for meaningful participation in DOC activities for people with diabetes, families, health care providers, and industry are provided. Results: Common themes around DOC participation include peer support, advocacy, self-expression, seeking and sharing diabetes information, improving approaches to diabetes data management, and humor. Potential risks include access to misinformation and threats to individuals' privacy, though there are limited data on negative outcomes resulting from such activities. Likewise, few data are available regarding the impact of DOC involvement on glycemic outcomes, but initial research suggests a positive impact on emotional experiences, attitudes toward diabetes, and engagement in diabetes management behaviors. Conclusion: The range of DOC participants, activities, and platforms is growing rapidly. The Internet provides opportunities to strengthen communication and support among individuals with diabetes, their families, health care providers, the health care industry, policy makers, and the general public. Research is needed to investigate the impact of DOC participation on self-management, quality of life, and glycemic control, and to design and evaluate strategies to maximize its positive impact.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 2632-2646
Author(s):  
Ajith Kumar G ◽  
Saranya P

Health care providers play a major role in the management of tuberculosis (TB). The knowledge, attitude and practice towards TB in health care providers will have an impact on the treatment success or failure. Studies have reported that inadequate knowledge of the health care providers led to the delivery of improper counselling content to the recipients. We assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards tuberculosis among health care workers in and around Chennai. A cross sectional study was conducted among 382 health care workers of the chest and tuberculosis department of government hospitals and directly observed treatment short-course clinics. The principal investigator administered a structured and validated questionnaire to the study participants. Around 500 healthcare workers were approached, and 382 showed interest to sign the informed consent. A majority (70%) of the study participants were between the age group 20-30 years. There was a highly significant difference (P = 0.006) in response to this between participants who had a history of active tuberculosis and undergone treatment for the same, and the participants with no history of TB. There was a significant difference between the study population based on their qualification and profession (P = 0.001 and P = 0.007 respectively) in using the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program guideline for reference. The knowledge attitude and practice towards TB was good in more than 80% of the respondents, yet there is room to improve. Structured periodic training towards TB will further improve the KAP of health care workers.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boon Piang Cher ◽  
Gayatri Kembhavi ◽  
Kai Yee Toh ◽  
Jananie Audimulam ◽  
Wei-Yan Aloysius Chia ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disorder and poses a growing disease burden worldwide because of an aging population. A multidisciplinary approach with an emphasis on patient education and self-management has been demonstrated to improve outcomes for AF through the engagement of patients in their own care. Although electronic tools (e-tools) such as <i>apps</i> have been proposed to provide patient education and facilitate self-management, there have been few studies to guide the development of these tools for patients with AF. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the perceptions of patients and health care providers (HCPs) and their attitudes toward the use of e-tools for the self-management of AF. It also seeks to elicit the factors that contribute to these attitudes. METHODS Semistructured qualitative interviews with HCPs and patients were conducted to understand the interpretations and expectations of an e-tool that would be used for the self-management of AF. Interview data were analyzed using an exploratory thematic analysis approach to uncover emergent themes and infer ideas of preferred features in a device. A modified technology acceptance model was developed as a framework to help interpret these findings. Data from the HCPs and patients were compared and contrasted. RESULTS Both patients and HCPs thought that an e-tool would be useful in the self-management of AF. Although both groups favored educational content and monitoring of blood pressure, patients expressed more passivity toward self-care and an ambivalence toward the use of technology to monitor their medical condition. This appears to be related to factors such as a patient’s age, social support, and their attitudes toward technology. Instead, they favored using the app to contact their HCPs. CONCLUSIONS This study provides insights into significant differences in the attitudes of patients and HCPs toward the use of e-tools for self-care against their priorities. Understanding patients’ motivations and their needs are key to ensuring higher acceptance of such tools.


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