Study finds monitoring blood sugar regularly could keep diabetes under check

A study compared those using app and those who visited hospital

A study by a hospital treating diabetes, compared persons who used a dedicated app and those who did not, in order to understand how technology helped.

Persons diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and seeking treatment were chosen. It was found that management of diabetes was superior among those using the app, Diahome, as compared to in-person hospital visits.

Arun Raghavan, consultant diabetologist and director of Dr. A. Ramachandran’s Diabetes Hospitals, who led the study, published his findings in the journal Primary Care Diabetes. The article, ‘Improvement in glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes with treatment using an interactive mobile application – A pilot study from India’, explained that between April and June 2021, 441 app users versus 446 others who came to the hospital for treatment and did not use the app, were studied.

After four months, as many as 91 app users and 82 non app users were followed up. The mean age of the participants in both groups was around 59 years±12 years. The participants were generally obese.

The study found that non app-users had a higher BMI and their fasting blood glucose level was significantly higher than that of app-users. Participants in both groups, however, showed reduction in the HbA1c levels.

“Our study showed that management of diabetes using a dedicated mobile application Diahome was feasible and superior to in-person hospital visits in relation to improvement in FBG and HbA1c values,” the study concluded. It found that most patients readily accepted real-time virtual consultation.

The study pointed out that younger persons had difficulty in monitoring their condition. The app, however, reduced by half the cost for patients owing to an in-person visit to the hospital.