Effect evaluation on mobile medical APP for treatment of outpatients with type 2 diabetes

ObjectiveThe study aims to assess the effectiveness of mobile medical App in the management of outpatients with type 2 diabetes(T2DM).

MethodsA total of 114 patients with T2DM were randomly divided into mobile medical group (trial group) and traditional face-to-face follow-up group (control group).Every patient received an electronic blood glucose meter, an electronic sphygmomanometer and an electronic weight scale.Patients in the trial group were treated with a telemedicine system and patients in the control group with a conventional outpatient follow-up model.The study was conducted for 6 months.

ResultsA total of 114 patients were eligible for inclusion and participated in the study voluntarily.At the end of the study, with 1 patient lost and 3 patients withdrawing from the study, 53 patients completed the study in the trial group, while there were 2 patients lost and 55 patients completing the study in the control group. At the end of the study (6 months), the ratio of HbA1c < 7.0% in the trial group was higher than that in the control group (45% vs 29%, P < 0.001), and the difference in HbA1c levels between the two groups was obvious(P=0.032).Compared with the control group, the trial group had better control of BMI, SBP, TG and ALT (P=0.026, P=0.043, P=0.001, P=0.048).Other clinical indicators had no significant difference. The numbers of self-monitoring blood glucose, blood pressure and body weight were higher in the trial group than those in the control group (P=0.009, P=0.033, P=0.045).In terms of safety, the numbers of hypoglycemia in the trial group was lower than those in the control group (2.0% vs 6.4%, P=0.044). A lower number of specialist visits was reported in the telemedicine group (53 vs 87, P=0.031), while the number of emergency and hospitalizations did not show significant differences between the two groups.

ConclusionThis study confirms that telemedicine systems can improve the awareness of self-management in patients with T2DM and enhances the communication between doctors and patients.