Effectiveness of the Family Portal Function on the Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Retrospective Cohort Study With Propensity Score Matching

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a major health concern worldwide. Family member engagement in diabetes self-management education programs can improve patients’ diabetes management. However, there is limited evidence that the family portal on diabetes management apps is effective in the glycemic control of patients with diabetes. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of family support through the family portal function on Lilly Connected Care Program (LCCP) platform. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included patients with type 2 diabetes recruited to the LCCP platform from September 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019. Propensity score matching was used to match family (group A) and non–family (group B) portal use groups with similar baseline characteristics. The patients were followed up with for 12 weeks. The main objectives were differences in mean fasting blood glucose, proportion of patients achieving fasting blood glucose target <7mmol/L, mean postprandial blood glucose, proportion of patients achieving postprandial blood glucose target <10mmol/L, proportion of patients achieving both fasting blood glucose <7mmol/L and postprandial blood glucose <10mmol/L, self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency at week 12 and the number of diabetes education courses patients completed during the 12 weeks. Moreover, logistic regression analysis was used to explore the baseline factors which may be associated with the use of family portal, and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 6582 adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with type 2 diabetes who were receiving insulin therapy were enrolled in the study. Overall, 6.1% (402/6582) of the patients chose to engage their family members to use the family portal. Two groups of 394 patients were well-matched regarding baseline characteristics. After matching, mean fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose at week 12 were significantly lower in group A than in group B (fasting blood glucose: 7.12 mmol/L, SD 1.70 vs 7.42 mmol/L, SD 1.88, respectively, P=.02; postprandial blood glucose: 8.56 mmol/L, SD 2.51 vs 9.10 mmol/L, SD 2.69, respectively, P=.002). When comparing group A to group B, the proportion of patients achieving both fasting blood glucose <7mmol and postprandial blood glucose <10mmol/L at week 12 (46.8% vs 39.4%, respectively, P=.04), self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency at week 12 (8.92 times per week, SD 6.77 vs 8.02 times per week, SD 5.97, respectively, P=.05) and number of diabetes education courses completed in 12 weeks (23.00, IQR9.00-38.00 vs 15.00, IQR 4.00-36.00, respectively, P<.001) was higher. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher age (OR=0.987, 95% CI 0.978-0.996, P=.006) and higher baseline fasting blood glucose (OR=0.914, 95% CI 0.859-0.972, P=.004) were correlated with less use of the family portal function, while increased baseline self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency (OR=1.022, 95% CI 1.012-1.032], P<.001) as well as increased education courses (OR=1.026, 95% CI 1.015-1.036, P<.001) were associated with more use of the family portal function. CONCLUSIONS: Family support through the LCCP family portal is effective for glycemic control and self-management behavior improvement in type 2 diabetes patients.