Effects of mobile phone application combined with or without self‐monitoring of blood glucose on glycemic control in patients with diabetes: A randomized controlled trial

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: There is potential for mobile applications to deliver new self‐management interventions for chronic disease, especially in diabetes. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a mobile phone application (MPA) combined with or without self‐monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) on glycemic control in patients with diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a 24‐week period, four‐arm parallel group, non‐blinded, randomized trial. A total of 185 patients with mean age of 52 years were randomized to group A (no MPA and no SMBG), group B (SMBG only), group C (MPA only) and group D (both MPA and SMBG were used). Changes in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose and 1,5‐anhydroglucitol from baseline to week 24 were analyzed. RESULTS: At 24 weeks, the HbA1c levels in patients of all groups decreased significantly from baseline. There were significant differences in the proportions of patients that achieved HbA1c <7% between groups, especially in group C and group D, compared with group A at week 24 (60.4%, 62.2% vs 25.5%, all P < 0.05). 1,5‐Anhydroglucitol changes were obvious in group A and group C at week 24 from baseline (all P < 0.05 within groups). Factorial analysis of anova showed that MPA intervention was the main effective factor for HbA1c change (F = 4.59, P = 0.034), and there was no effect on HbA1c change for SMBG intervention (P = 0.975). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of the MPA, Diabetes‐Carer, is effective in improving the proportion of HbA1c <7% in patients with type 2 diabetes.