Defeating diabetes in the desert: A community-based mHealth diabetes screening intervention in Jodhpur Rajasthan

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of demonstrated models for mHealth-based diabetes screening and coordinated care in India, especially in western Rajasthan, which is the part of Thar desert. MATERIALS AND METHODS: JSPH collaboratively developed and implemented an easy-to-use, noninvasive, mobile phone-based screening interview, to identify adults at high risk for diabetes. The high risk for diabetes was defined using multiple clinical and epidemiologic criteria, all based on the evidence for India and globally. Since participants above 35 years or older were only considered in the screening, the application was designed to categorize the participants as high and low risk. RESULTS: Out of 4000 screened participants, the percentage of males and females were 51% and 50%, respectively. Participants found to be at high risk and low risk were n = 3600 (90%) and 400 (10%). The mean age of high- and low-risk participants was 52.2 (+12.8) and 36.2 (+4.2), respectively. Of the 3600 high-risk individuals who have been given a follow-up interview, 90.50% of high-risk individuals obtained diabetes testing, and of these, 65.67% had a written report showing they test positive for diabetes or prediabetes, requiring ongoing clinical care. CONCLUSIONS: JSPH mHealth application provided a novel noninvasive way to better identify those at high diabetes risk in the community and demonstrated how to optimize the use of mobile health methods in diabetes prevention and care services.